


Sunset in a Faraway Land

by Qball



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, OMORI Spoilers, Original Character(s), Post-good ending, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 35,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29968641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qball/pseuds/Qball
Summary: Post Good Ending. Sunny’s father suddenly and inexplicably returns to Faraway town and Sunny makes the decision to stay with him in order to patch things up with everyone. Other shenanigans also take place along the way.
Relationships: Aubrey/Sunny (OMORI)
Comments: 70
Kudos: 173





	1. Act 1: Reconciliation Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally my first fanfic ever because I’m obsessed with Omori tbh so expect a bit of rustiness. However, I will still try my best to make a great story for you all. Also I decided to make it so that Sunny speaks in all lowercase to show how quiet/soft spoken he is. The only exceptions are when Sunny is thinking, texting, or when he deliberately makes an effort to speak loudly/confidently. The overall series is planned to be pretty long so not every major moment will end up happening back to back, but even so I hope you all can enjoy the random shenanigans sprinkled throughout the story and enjoy the ride while it lasts!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny recalls the night his family broke apart and recounts dealing with the initial stage of guilt that came with it as he sees everyone’s reaction to Mari’s death.

_Don’t worry. Everything will be ok._ Sunny recalls hearing those words every day as if they were just uttered to him the day before. _Will they? Will they really be ok?_ He thought to himself. _There’s no way they’ll forgive you. The amount of suffering they all felt the past 4 years was all your fault. Once they know the truth just the sight of you will make them want to vomit._

But even so… Sunny knew he had to tell them the truth, he knew they had to know what really happened that night. _It’s ok if they hate me. I don’t deserve forgiveness._ He thought as he slowly stumbled down the hospital hallway towards Basil’s room. _If I don’t tell them now, I don’t know how I can ever live on._

As he stumbled around the corner he could feel the presence of Something right behind him. Trying to make him second guess. Trying to make him give up. Trying to keep the truth as far away as it could possibly be. But Sunny ignored it as he finally made it to Basil’s door. As he reached for the doorknob he hesitated. He thought one last time about that night and how his actions hurt himself and everyone he held dear…

— —

“Sunny? Sunny? **Sunny!** ” A voice jolted a younger Sunny back to his senses. That’s right. Maybe he had just been dreaming. Maybe he just had a very bad nightmare and Mari had just left the room for a second to grab a snack or use the restroom. She’d be back right?

She’d come right back to the piano room and continue to practice for the recital. The recital. That was supposed to be tonight. But if that was the case then way was he still at home? Why was he sitting alone at Mari’s piano? Why did his parents sound so concerned? Sunny turned his head to see his father staring at him with a puzzled look.

“What’s going on kiddo? It looks like you got the life sucked out of you or something.” Sunny couldn’t help but stare blankly at him.

“Where’s your sister? You two have to get ready for the recital tonight. You should hurry up before you’re late. Your friends are gonna be ready pretty soon as well. You don’t want to keep them waiting do you?”

More staring. “Sunny?” Said his father.

“i-i… i don’t know.” Replied Sunny. Sunny’s voice sounded tired and strained. He didn’t talk much but his weak voice surprised even him.

Sunny’s mother rushed into the room suddenly. “Mari’s not in her room. Where could she have gone? Basil said he hadn’t seen her at all today.”

Sunny’s dad gave her a puzzled look. “Strange. She wouldn’t go anywhere without telling us. I’ll go check the backyard. Maybe she’s in the treehouse.” Sunny’s dad left the room, leaving Sunny and his mother alone in the Piano room.

Sunny’s mom gave him a concerned look and asked “Sunny? What’s wrong sweetie? Are you sick?”

Sunny didn’t have the chance to answer before a loud scream arose from the direction of the backyard. His dad found Mari. Sunny’s mother ran out of the room to investigate the source of the scream but Sunny didn’t dare follow. He knew exactly what would be waiting for him if he did. Instead he turned back to look at Mari’s piano. Studying the word inscribed on the front. _Omori_.

The funeral was a blur. He could remember that there were a lot of people. A lot more than he could’ve ever imagined. They were all sobbing and crying. Including his friends. Sunny tried to forget the fact that he was the ones that made them cry. He was the source of everyone's heartaches and pain. It was all his fault. He made everyone suffer. He dragged Basil into all of this. He killed Mari. The pain of this realization became more than Sunny was ever willing to bear. He couldn’t face them all knowing what he had done. His friends shouldn’t have to hang out with him anymore. They shouldn’t have to be around a murderer. They were better off without him. They all were.

He recalled the incident that took place a week and a half after Mari’s death. He had refused to go to school at all that week, insisting that he didn’t feel very well so his parents let him sleep all week. One thing woke him up late at night. One night while he was sleeping (or trying to sleep that his) he awoke to the sound of a pounding noise coming from his backyard. _Wack! Wack! Wack! Wack!_

Curious Sunny climbed out of bed and cautiously walked down the stairs, trying his best not to hyperventilate in the process. He opened the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. The wacking noise got louder as he stumbled towards the tree where they put Mari. Why was he doing this? Did he really want to be reminded of that night? Despite this thought he figured it was too late to turn back now.

He continued to walk through the trees until he finally saw it. A silhouette that looked awfully similar to his father’s pounding at the tree. Although they had taken the rope off along with Mari’s body, he felt like he could still see the noose, wiggling on the tree with every slam of the axe. And beyond that, Something stared into his soul as if to say _This is because of you._ The fear caused Sunny to gasp for air in an attempt to calm himself down. The axe continued to slam against the tree. In between the sound of the axe hitting the tree he heard it: His father’s voice sharp as a dagger cutting into his heart.

“Stay away... You are not my son...” Something began to move towards him in the darkness. Sunny’s mind went blank and he began to sprint back towards the house. This was a bad idea. Why did he go out? He looked back and saw something fading off into the distance. As he ran he swore he heard his father mutter one last thing. _“Why… Why won’t you fall?”_

The next day as Sunny lay in bed he could hear his parents arguing. He didn’t dare leave his room this time out of fear that Something would once again be waiting for him. He could make out a few sentences between them “...bruises all over her body… couldn’t be a suicide... had to have something to do with it!”

“...you call my son a murderer...never do such a thing!” Sunny stopped listening. Did his dad know it was all his fault? Doesn’t matter. Even if they didn’t, he knew for a fact that it was indeed his fault, and he would never forget that he ruined everyone he loved because of it.

Eventually the yelling ceased and he could hear heavy footsteps up the stairs. His dad knew something. Was he coming up to punish Sunny harshly? The footsteps eventually hit the top of the stairs and went past his room. A few moments later the footsteps went back down the stairs followed by the sound of the front door opening and closing. Sunny never saw his father again after that.

— —

If his dad reacted that bad that week, he didn’t want to know just how bad it would be when his friends finally learned the truth. Hero loved Mari. Aubrey loved Mari. Basil loved Mari. Kel loved Mari. And it was because of him that she was ripped from their lives. They would never forgive him. But even so, they deserved to know the truth. Sunny finally summoned the last bit of courage he had left in him and pushed open the door. As he expected, his friends were all together huddled over Basil, who was sound asleep in his bed, Something around him as heavy as ever.

They all turned to see him standing and the end of the room staring at them. Kel was the first to speak. “Woah Sunny you’re awake! A-Are you sure you should be moving like that?”

Kel. He was a simple and easy going guy and if it wasn’t for him, Sunny wouldn’t be in this position in the first place. Although he sometimes lacked maturity at times, he deserved to know the truth.

Hero looked at him with a face of concern and said “Careful, Sunny… You shouldn’t be walking yet… your wound might reopen...”

Hero… Hero’s concern for Sunny was just like him. Despite how tormented he clearly was, Hero always put others before himself and was one of the kindest people he had ever met. He and Mari really did deserve each other. Sunny had no idea if Hero would ever forgive him but even so, he deserved to know the truth as well.

As if right on cue with Hero’s warning, Sunny felt a dizzying sensation rush through his body and his legs gave out. Sunny dropped to his knees and his friends rushed to his aid.

Aubrey had a look of extreme concern as they reached him “Sunny! Sunny! Are you okay? Say something…” Aubrey. _Oh Aubrey._ As troubled as she was, she still had that fiery personality that she had as a kid.

She was always pretty emotional but it was one of her most defining traits because she was willing to stand up for whatever she believed in. She looked up to Mari so much and seeing how her home life was not too long ago made Sunny feel even worse for abandoning her and all his other friends. She also deserved to know the truth.

Sunny looked up at his friend’s kind and concerned faces, knowing exactly what he had to do. As he struggled to get the words out, he thought to himself This is it. The moment that has been so long overdue. _Please, stay with me Mari. Give me the strength to do this._ “....................i………… i have to tell you something.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Welcome to this absolute ride of a story! This is one of the shortest chapters in the story so far. As of the posting of this first chapter, I have already written about 11 chapters (currently working on the 12th). For the meantime I will be simply transferring each chapter over from the original doc, so there won't be much of a schedule until the story catches up to where I am. I will be uploading each chapter as soon as I can so please be patient.


	2. Act 1: Reconciliation Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny tells his friends what really happened to Mari and prepares for the consequences. Then he runs into someone that he never would’ve expected.

Sunny’s mind was completely clear as he explained everything that happened that night. Mari’s true death, Basil’s involvement, his inability to acknowledge the truth and face his friends. Everything was laid out for his friends to see. He figured he had nothing left to lose anyway.

He spoke until his throat felt raw (which wasn’t an extremely long time since he hadn’t said very much in four years) and when he was done he took a deep breath. “that’s what happened. i’m not asking you to forgive me. i just thought you all deserved to know the truth.”

He glanced around the room at everyone’s expressions. They were all blank except for Kel, who just looked confused. The silence was deafening and lasted for what felt like ages until Kel broke the silence. “A-are you for real Sunny? Because if this is a joke, you kinda took it a bit far. This is a joke right?”

Sunny just stared at him. Once he came to the realization that this was not a joke he muttered to himself “Oh god.” Before turning to look at Hero, who looked like he was about to vomit. Aubrey just stood there with a crestfallen expression on her face and she was clearly trying to avoid eye contact with Sunny.

Eventually Hero stood up and calmly walked out of the room. Before he left, he quietly said “We’ll talk about this later. I just… need to put my thoughts in order.”

Kel ran after him saying to Sunny as he left “Sorry dude, don’t take this to heart or anything. I’ve just gotta make sure Hero doesn’t do anything too rash out there.” After Kel left, Sunny glanced at Basil, who had since woken up in time to see everyone’s reaction to the confession.

Something was still clinging on tight to Basil as he watched. Before Sunny could say anything to Basil, he felt an intense pain on his shin. Aubrey, who was trying her best to hold her tears in has just kicked him in the shin.

Sunny collapsed, holding his leg and cowering in fear of what she might do next. _I deserve this._ He thought as he looked up at Aubrey who had tears dripping from her scrunched up face. “That’s for lying to our faces for four years! You’re lucky you’re getting off with just that!” She said before also leaving the room.

As the pain in his leg began to subside, Sunny stood up and looked back at the concerned Basil. Basil stared at him with the same nervous and fearful expression he had the past few days that Sunny was outside. Sunny didn’t have the energy for another monologue but he wanted to let Basil know that everything was alright now, so he gave Basil a smile. The first genuine smile he’s had in years. A smile that conveyed comfort to his friend now that he had come clean. Basil realized this and quietly shot him a smile in return, Something tangled around them both quickly dissolving to nothingness. Now, they could finally have a fresh start.

— —

Sunny woke up back in his hospital bed. He didn’t really remember going back to his hospital room or anything, which caused him to wonder if the whole telling the truth thing was just a dream or it actually even happened. Before he could think more on the subject he turned his head to see his mother standing next to him with an uneasy look in her eyes.

This was different from the usually cheery front she put on around him so Sunny figured something was wrong. Maybe his friends told her the truth for him. He couldn’t imagine how she would feel to go four years defending him only to find out she was wrong. Suddenly his mom spoke up “S-Sunny? Are you awake sweetie-pie?” All Sunny could manage was a slight nod.

Her expression relaxed slightly before she said one thing that made Sunny’s spine tingle. “You don’t mind if we stay here in Faraway town for one extra day do you dearie?” Sunny knew just how much his mother was looking forward to the move.

She was even willing to leave him alone in his old house for a week just to be in the city slightly earlier than planned. Not to mention the main reason why they were moving in the first place was to be closer to his mother’s job. She wouldn’t risk delaying the move even slightly for no reason. So what was it that caused her to want to do this?

Sunny strained himself to croak out one word “why?” His mother began to tear up slightly but she managed to quell whatever she was feeling in her heart at that moment. “Well, we have a chance to meet the...people that are moving into our home. I’d like to take an extra day to discuss things and I think it would be great if you could come too. I’d understand if you feel too unwell to leave the hospital right now but I do think this would be very important to you.”

His mother was always about letting him do his own thing. She was the one that let Sunny stay in his room 24/7 to the point that he stopped coming to school because she thought that he would come out when he was ready. Little would she know it would take 4 years for that to ever happen. Despite how easygoing she was as a parent she hasn’t really urged him to do anything this intensely since...since he was taking his violin lessons. Sunny agreed to leave the hospital that day and after saying his farewell to Basil, who still had to stay in the hospital for another day or so, he climbed into his mother’s car and they drove back to Faraway Town.

— —

As the car slowly pulled up to the house Sunny hadn’t expected to see for quite some time, he was puzzled to notice an unfamiliar car parked by the house. _The new neighbor is already here? I didn’t expect things to go by this fast_ he thought. As he stepped out of the car he wondered how his friends were doing and how they were handling what he had told them about Mari. He looked up at the window of Hero and Kel’s house and saw that the lights were on. They’d probably be having dinner at this point , but he wondered if Hero even had the appetite to eat. As he stared, he could’ve sworn he saw the blinds in their window. Was someone watching them? Maybe it was Kel. That wouldn’t really surprise him because Kel never really had anything against being nosy.

Sunny wondered if he was just as confused to see him back so soon as he was. Sunny’s mother shook him back to his senses and helped him limp to the front door of his former home. Before knocking, she turned to him and said “Now, Sunny what may happen next may come as a surprise to you but just know that you will always be my son and that mommy loves you.” That caused the pit in Sunny’s stomach to grow even more and he dreaded whatever would open that door. After about 10 seconds of knocking, the door made a click sound and slowly opened to reveal the last thing Sunny would’ve ever expected. The person that opened the door was his very own father.


	3. Act 1: Reconciliation Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny is faced with a dilemma that he never could have imagined.

“You’re here. And earlier than anticipated.” Muttered Sunny’s father. “Hi David. Glad to see you are doing well.” replied his mother.

Sunny was in complete disbelief. Was this really the same man that vanished 4 years ago? Visually, he looked similar, except for this thinning hair, different glasses, and larger gut. Despite how little he had just spoken, his voice had a fear-inducing presence to it, as if he was a powerful emperor, ready to strike an unfortunate soul with his judgement. This was not the same man that raised him.

Whether that was a good thing or not was yet to be decided but even so, Sunny couldn’t bring himself to look him in the eye for more than a second. He knew what Sunny did. He never forgot and most likely never will. Despite this he stepped aside and beckoned them in.

As they walked in Sunny noticed an unfamiliar face sitting at the kitchen table. A woman, that looked slightly younger than his mother with dark, brunette hair and olive eyes sat at the dinner table. Sunny couldn’t help but stare. Who was this woman? Was this a replacement for his mother? Did his father tell her anything about him in advance to make her hate him?

As if to answer his question, she shot him with a friendly and diplomatic smile, which calmed him down slightly. Sunny’s dad took their coats and invited them to have a seat on the lawn chairs that they had in the living room. All their furniture had yet to arrive so they had to take temporary measures on some parts of their house.

The house was filled with a complete, deafening silence until Sunny’s father broke it with a question. “What happened to your eye?” He asked pointing at Sunny’s brand new eyepatch, which Sunny had almost forgotten about due to the sheer amount of intimidation that he felt from facing his father again.

Sunny struggled to answer his question so his dad knelt next to him and put a calm hand on his shoulder and asked the question again. The hand on his shoulder was most likely less of a way to comfort him and more of a way to keep him from zoning out, something his father was always able to do since he was a kid. “my eye got injured...sir…” Sunny said weakly.

His father struggled to hide his amusements the amount of fear Sunny was clearly radiating with. “Well, I know that but how?” He replied. Sunny looked down, too nervous to recall his recent fight with his best friend. His father took his hand off his shoulder and said “Fine. You don’t have to tell me how.”

More silence. “Will it at least heal?” He asked. “the doctor said it’ll heal eventually, but i’ll never be able to see as well as i used to in that eye.” Sunny nervously replied.

His father nodded and then got back up, telling everyone “Dinner will be ready in about half an hour.” Before walking off. More silence before Sunny’s mother eventually also got up and walked in the direction that Sunny’s dad went, leaving Sunny and the mystery lady alone together.

After what felt like an eternity the lady finally got up and strolled over to where Sunny was. She must’ve noticed that Sunny started sweating bullets because she spoke to him in a calm and gentle tone. “Oh no, no, please don’t be afraid I didn’t mean to intimidate you. I just wanted to introduce myself.”

She said reaching a hand towards him. “I’m Adelaide. I’m your father’s girlfriend.” Sunny stared at her. A bead of sweat appeared on her forehead. “I’m sorry! That might’ve been a bit unsettling for you to hear after so many years!” she stammered out.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been taking great care of your father and although he seems a bit off put at the thought of you for reasons that he has yet to tell me about, I want you to know that I am giving you the benefit of the doubt here. ‘Treat others how you want to be treated’ is something my grandmother always told me.”

Sunny looked down to realize that her hand was still outstretched, so he grabbed hold of it and gently shook it. Her hands were soft and she seemed like a kind person. She reminded him of someone but he couldn’t bring himself to think of who. Sunny started to think that maybe things would work out better than he thought.

— —

For dinner, they were all eating a soup of some kind. Sunny didn’t care enough to find out which kind because he didn’t have much of an appetite. “Honey, eat your food. We made sure to have soup tonight so that you could eat it all easier. The more you eat the faster you’ll get better okay?”

Sunny slowly reached for the spoon and scooped up as much broth as he could. He brought it to his lips but when he looked up he noticed everyone at the table was watching him intently. His mother watched him with concern, his father stared at him judgingly, and Aldelaide shot him frequent glances of curiosity. _Was it her that cooked the soup?_ He thought She must be hoping that I like her cooking.

Sunny, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself than he already was, put the spoon in his mouth and gulped down its contents. It was amazing. Probably some of the best soup Sunny had ever tasted. Immediately the small appetite that Sunny originally had grew into an endless void of hunger, seeking nourishment from the dish laid in front of him.

Sunny immediately went right to work on it, swallowing all the noodles and eating the chunks of beef hidden beneath the surface. He noticed Adelaide letting out a gentle sigh of relief in the corner of his eye and time seemed to resume again as everyone around the table picked up their utensils and dug in. To Sunny’s surprise, it was his mother who broke the silence. “So Adelaide… What gave you two the idea to invite us over for dinner tonight?” Adelaide was with his dad now. Shouldn’t his mother feel as uneasy as he felt about this?

He knew his parents weren’t together anymore and that whatever spark was once between them was gone but he figured that the two women wouldn’t get along as well as they currently were doing right in front of him. He didn’t know the first thing about women or romance and never really made much of an effort to try, which is one of the main reasons why him and Aubrey never… Nevermind.

He should focus on what’s currently at hand in front of him but he couldn’t shake the idea that something could go wrong at any second with his luck. Adelaide enthusiastically replied to his mother’s question “Well, it was my idea really. Y’see when David mentioned to me that this is the house he used to live in a few years back I was very interested and after a little bit I managed to get it out of him that he had a son! So I insisted that we should see his kid off before you two went off into the big city w-well of course it was up to him. I didn’t want to force him or anything haha.” Sunny could tell she was trying hard not to make the night any more awkward than it already was.

His father simply continued to eat his soup as if the current conversation wasn’t happening at all. Sunny probably could have counted the amount of times his father even looked at him on one hand and the amount of tension in the room continued to grow. Sunny’s mother scowled. “Ah I see so it wasn’t his idea to have this little farewell party in the first place?”

Despite how little Sunny had interacted with people throughout the past few years, even he could tell this conversation would quickly run sour if the subject wasn’t changed. “u-um the soup was delicious ma’am” he croaked. Adelaide’s timid expression quickly morphed into a cheery and flattered one. “Why thank you! And please, call me Adelaide. No need to be nervous!” _Ironic_ Sunny thought to himself.

And with that, dinner was finished. After all the bowls and utensils were put away the adults all brought Sunny into the living room and sat him down. _This was the part I was afraid of,_ he thought to himself _Everything was going nicely but this has to be the catch right?_ Sensing his unease, Sunny’s mother placed her hand on Sunny’s shoulder and smiled warmly at him. This wasn’t the same as when his dad did it. This was the comforting kind. The kind of contact his father had refused to give him.

Adelaide started the discussion. “Ok so now that dinner’s done, we figured now was a good time to bring this up with you. We’ve already discussed this with your mother and I painstakingly managed to convince your father to agree to the terms too.”

What’s happening? Was this going in the direction that Sunny thought it was going in? She continued “We figured since you’ve lived here in Faraway for all your life, there’s a lot of things you might not be necessarily ready to leave yet. It’s never easy to go to a new place, especially when things aren’t going the best in life. But things can get better! Life is filled with things that can be completely out of your control at times, so we figured we’d try to give you a major choice for once. We are offering for you to stay here in Faraway with us.”

Sunny’s heart stopped. _Stay in Faraway Town? Why would I want to stay here? My friends all probably hate me now that the truth is out. Now that I’ve said all that needed to be said, I can have a fresh start._ Adelaide continued “Now, we understand that this might be a big decision for you but just know that no matter if you decide to stay with us or go with your mother, we will completely respect your decision.”

 _Why is it her that’s asking me? Why won’t Dad ask me this question?_ Does he even care anymore? What would make him ever agree to let a murderer like me live under his roof again? What made him come back? “Take your time.” She said. Sunny’s mother leaned forward towards him and asked him “You want to come with me right? We have new opportunities in the city Sunny! New friends, new school, new area! Doesn’t that excite you?”

Sunny’s dad remained silent, still never looking directly at him. _What kind of question is this? I just met this woman and dad still hates me. Why would I ever want to live here? This house is and always will be a constant reminder of what I did. Why would I ever want to live with a dad that hates me and a random lady that reminds me of…_ Sunny’s mind flashed back to the silent request he had made earlier that day: _Please, stay with me Mari. Give me the strength to do this._

His job wasn’t over. He had to make things right. This was a chance given to him from Mari herself as if she was saying to him _"Don’t worry, little brother! It’s not over yet! The others will understand!"_ Despite being put on the spot, Sunny had made his decision. He turned his head in the direction of his father and said with the most determination he could summon at the time “Dad. I’m staying with you.”


	4. Act 1: Reconciliation Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny’s friends each try to come to terms with the truth. Meanwhile, Sunny comes face to face with an old acquaintance.

Kel was having a hard time sleeping. He was generally an easygoing and relaxed guy but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy for Hero’s sake. He rolled over in bed and looked across the room. Hero was lying silently in his bed with his back turned towards him, but Kel would be surprised if he was even asleep at all. The sad memory of how he yelled at him when he found out about Mari’s death all those years ago caused Kel to decide against checking if his brother really was awake and he turned his attention to his cell phone that had just buzzed beside him.

Kel never really bothered to ever put his phone on vibrate or silent, which usually would cause Hero a great deal of annoyance, but Kel wasn’t really in the mood to piss him off any more. Kel turned on his phone and saw that he had a new text from Aubrey of all people. _She can’t sleep either huh?_ thought Kel. Was his dear friend Sunny really a murderer? The group had drifted apart the past 4 years but he still felt like he knew Sunny just as much as he did back when they were kids with how little he had changed.

  
Kel was baffled at how Sunny and Basil were able to keep such a serious secret under wraps for four whole years. Kel could barely keep even the most minor of secrets himself. Kel decided to open the message

**Aubrey >>> Kel **

**Friday 11:47 PM**

**Aubrey:** Hey. You up?

******Kel:****** Nah :P

******Aubrey:****** Can you just give me a refresher on what happened today? I need to make sure I’m not going crazy.

**********Kel:********** crazier

**********Aubrey:********** Funny

**************Kel:************** Well we went to Basil’s place to do friends stuff and all that before Sunny moved away but Basil wouldn’t leave his room so we decided to crash there for the night

**************Kel:************** Then I went to go take a leak and found him and Sunny passed out in a pool of blood and took them to the hospital

**************Kel:************** Then Sunny woke up and told us that he accidentally killed Mari and Basil helped make it look like a suicide and that they both lied to us for the past 4 years

**************Aubrey:************** So it really did happen.... Also can you just type in 1 message? It’s not that hard and you’re making it kinda annoying.

******************Kel:****************** You’d

******************Kel:****************** Like

******************Kel:** ****************That

******************Kel:****************** Wouldn’t

******************Kel:****************** You?

******************Aubrey:****************** Wow that was hilarious I’m dying of laughter.

**********************Aubrey:********************** How’s Hero doing?

**************************Kel:************************** Wow! Look who’s typing in multiple messages now lmao

**************************Aubrey:************************** I guess you got me there

******************************Kel:****************************** Hero’s heaving a bit of a hard time right now. I’ve never really been able to figure out what’s going on in his head but I can tell it’s probably not very pretty right now.

******************************Kel:****************************** He didn’t even really wanna eat dinner tonight. He kept peeking out the window towards Sunny’s old house. That’s not really something he’d do.

******************************Aubrey:****************************** What? Do you know why?

**********************************Kel:********************************** Nah. I didn’t ask him. I figured I’d just let him do his mourning. Especially after what happened last time

**********************************Kel:********************************** Aubrey?

**********************************Kel:********************************** Still there?

— —

He felt that leaving now despite actually being given the choice would be a wasted opportunity to patch things up with everybody. Hero, Kel, Basil, and Aubrey all were most likely in arguably worse positions than they were when the week had started and who knows what would happen if he left all his friends in such intense states of confusion like that. _“So that’s the decision you’ve made? Interesting.”_

Sunny immediately was struck with an intense feeling of fear. Was Something back? Was he once again paying the price for his sins? He squinted his eye at a humanoid silhouette standing at the end of the room near his door. He couldn’t make out quite what it was until it stepped forward. “omori?” Asked Sunny, rubbing his eye “weren’t you gone? didn’t i finally rid myself of you?”

Omori continued to stroll towards him until he finally reached where Sunny was and knelt before the cowering boy. _“Don’t you know? I will never succumb. I am you and you are me.”_ Sunny’s heart sank. Was this even real? It couldn’t be. He definitely got rid of Omori.

Sunny closed his eye and tried his usual strategy of trying to calm himself down until the voice spoke to him again. _“Yes. I am as real as all the guilt you’ve felt since you killed Mari. My job was to keep you from the truth. Alas, I failed this task and both of us ended up getting what we deserved. But now, I have a new task.”_

Great. Omori can read his mind now. _A new task?_ Sunny thought, testing of his theory was true. _“Yes. Before, I sought to keep the guilt from weighing too heavily on you. Now, I seek to keep you from ever having to face another situation like that again.”_ replied Omori. _So you’re like my conscience now?_ Omori nodded _“I suppose that term works. What happens next is all up to you, but know I will do everything in my power to keep you from suffering more. Now then. What will you do today?”_

— —

When Sunny went downstairs for breakfast, his father was nowhere in sight. Where was he? Sunny wondered if his father’s reason for moving back to Faraway town was for work like his mother. That would certainly be a strange coincidence if that really was the case. Adelaide, was in the kitchen making breakfast and quietly singing a familiar tune to herself. _“Oyasumi oyasumi close your eyes and you’ll leave this dream.”_

She noticed that Sunny had come into the room and gave him a quick smile “Hello there Sunny! Are you well? I’m making breakfast right now so just sit tight.” Sunny decided against asking her where his dad was out of fear that she would panic and start rambling like she was constantly doing the previous night so he just nodded and sat down at the dining room table.

He thought back to the question Omori had asked him earlier _“What will you do today?”_ Frankly, Sunny wasn't sure. He already felt like he had made some serious progress leaving the house nearly every day this past week so it was possible that Sunny was even considering going back outside in the first place, and not just out of obligation this time.

Ideally, the best case scenario would be to find his friends and try to smooth things out with each of them, but he figured it would be unlikely that any of them would even want to talk with him at all. Basil probably won’t be back home until later that night so his best bet would probably be to find Kel, since he would probably be the most willing to even look at him out of the other three.

His thought process was interrupted by a plate being placed in front of him. “Breakfast is served! I hope you like eggs! I made them Sunny-side up for you!” said Adelaide, chuckling at her clever little joke. “thank you ma’am.” Sunny answered politely as he grabbed the utensils. Adelaide gave him a puzzled look. “You look like you’re thinking pretty hard there. Anything you’re struggling with? I’m always open for a chat if you need me!” Sunny nodded as he ate his breakfast.

Adelaide continued “So how old are you Sunny?” “16” he replied “Oh wow you’re so big! I remember when I was your age… have you thought about what you want to do in life?” Did she think he was a baby? He might as well have been since he had robbed himself of 4 years worth of life experiences by becoming a shut-in. Sunny shook his head.

“Well that’s alright! You’ve got time! Sometimes you may come to realize that you’re destined for something you never would have expected as a child! When I was your age, I wanted to be an astronaut but I ended up becoming a book editor and I can’t be happier! I always loved reading books in my spare time but now I can read and edit books all the time and I don’t even have to go to a _boring old office_ to do so. I’ll tell you Sunny, if there’s ever a career based around what you enjoy passing time with the most, you should totally consider looking into a career based around it. A good job is never _really_ a job! But anyways when I was your age, which really wasn’t all that long ago I’m not _that_ old….” _Boy, can she talk_ Sunny thought as he scarfed down the last of his meal. He continued to politely nod at Adelaide’s ramblings as she finished her own breakfast until she eventually excused herself and went to go read a book in the living room.

Afterwards, Sunny proceeded to wash up and get dressed before walking to his front door. Despite spending the past few days doing so, it still felt weird to go to the door and leave the horse on his own volition. He didn’t have time to admire how far he had come in such a short amount of time though. He had to find Kel. 

He opened the door and prepared to walk out but ended up running face-first into a wall. No...not a wall… Sunny slowly looked up and saw the towering figure of Hero standing at his doorstep. Hero’s expression remained serious and unchanged as he opened his mouth and spoke “Sunny. Nice to see you here. Walk with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I consider this chapter to be where the real Act 1 begins. You could consider these first 4 chapters to be just set up. If you've read this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I may not be the most experienced writer but I put a lot of blood, sweat, and possibly even tears into this one since it keeps me busy on the days I can't get out of bed. The later chapters are some of my favorite so far, so if you're already invested at this point, then congrats! It gets even better (in my humble opinion! P.S. I think I hit a wrong button or two while making this chapter. Please be patient while I attempt to fix it UPDATE: Fixed it. I dunno what I did but I'll try not to do it again


	5. Act 1: Reconciliation Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny and Hero have a chat by Mari’s grave while Aubrey and Kel try to figure out why Sunny is still in town

Sunny was beyond speechless (well, more speechless than usual) to see Hero of all people standing at his door. First, he’s telling him he accidentally killed the love of his life as a kid and a day later and now they were strolling down the street together. Apparently Sunny opened the door just as Hero was about to knock, which he supposed was good because he saved him just a fraction of time by doing so. He noticed they were heading down from where the park was. Where were they going? Basil’s house? Aubrey’s house? Odd jobs around the neighborhood?

No… none of that would make much sense except for one last place. Before he knew if they were at the church and Hero was holding the door open and beckoning him inside. “After you.” He said calmly. Hesitantly, Sunny stepped inside the church. The church was silent and empty except for a few elderly people silently praying and making offerings around the building.

Hero led him towards the back of the church where the graveyard was and once they got to Mari’s grave they took a seat. For a split second, Sunny could see Omori kneeling where Sunny eventually ended up sitting, staring into his soul and silently reminding him that he should choose his actions wisely in this meeting.

At first it was silent. If it wasn’t for the fact that Sunny almost definitely knew where this was going, he would probably feel very calm just relaxing with Mari. Hero spoke to break the silence. “I still can’t believe it’s been 4 years since you left, Mari.” Hero muttered quietly.

“When I heard the news that she had taken her own life, I couldn’t help but feel directly responsible for it. ‘It’s your fault, Henry. If only you had spotted the signs earlier, then she would still be with us.’ I would think things like that to myself on a daily basis, wondering constantly where it all went wrong. I hated myself.”

Hero paused for a second and wiped a few tears from his eyes “But then when I found out that you and Basil… did what you did… I had no idea what to think. I had to mourn by myself for that entire night, reminding myself that I went 4 years believing a total lie…”

Sunny looked down. He couldn’t bear to look at Hero knowing how much had wronged him and everyone else. Hero continued speaking. “I mean how could you guys even come up with something so...extreme all to keep from facing the consequences? Such an action is something that only an evil person could come up with. That’s all I could think all night. I wasn’t even really that sure what I was going to do when I found out that you were for some reason still at home. But when I saw you again opening that door, I didn’t see that evil and sadistic kid that was in my head all night. I saw my friend Sunny, who had grown enough to finally decide to tell the truth and apologize for it all. You must’ve really suffered those 4 years that you shut yourself out from the world. I feel that wanting you to suffer any more pain would make me just as bad as the kid who pushed my girlfriend down the stairs that night. But you’re not that kid anymore are you?”

Sunny was surprised. Out of all of his friends, her figured Hero was the most likely to punch him in the face after finding the truth. But instead he chose to forgive him? Was this really forgiveness? Or was it a warning? Maybe he was thinking too much into it.

Sunny struggled to speak “h-hero i-”

Hero interrupted him “Now Sunny, don’t take this as complete forgiveness. Saying I’ll ever be able to forgive you is something that is far too soon to decide right now. But we made a promise those few days ago to never come apart again. We’re starting from a clean slate as friends now. And that’s a promise I still intend to keep.” He turned towards Mari and gave a sad smile. “That’s what you would’ve wanted. Right Mari?”

The eyepatch over Sunny’s right eye felt a bit strange. It almost felt wet. It _was_ wet. It took a second to realize that that was because an endless stream of tears was pouring out of Sunny’s eyes.

Once Hero saw this, the wall of maturity and strength began to crumble and he pulled Sunny into a gentle embrace, both sides letting their tears flow endlessly. It was really happening. Things were actually looking up. It wasn’t just blind faith leading Sunny towards a path of redemption and forgiveness.

Mari really was with him. Mari was with them all. Through his tears, Sunny swore he could make out the silhouette of his sister and Omori staring at him with approving looks. He blinked and the two of them were gone.

Once Hero and Sunny got it all out of their systems, an hour had passed since they arrived at Mari’s grave. Hero looked down and asked “Is that a phone in your pocket Sunny?” After a split second of wondering if Hero of all people was making a dirty joke, Sunny looked down and was reminded that he actually did have a phone in his pocket.

His father’s old cell phone that was lent to him the previous night. He didn’t expect to actually need to use it anytime soon but he thought it was nice to have on him. Sunny nodded at Hero’s question and took out a piece of paper from a small notepad in his pocket.

He began to write on it and then gave Sunny the paper saying “This paper has everyone's number on it. If you feel the need to chat with any of us just like this, don’t hesitate to give us a call. I’m sure the other’s will come around after you chat with them for a bit. “yeah.” replied Sunny, now smiling. The day was a good day, but it was also just getting started.

— —

Aubrey found Kel shooting hoops on the basketball court by the park. He seemed really focused. If only he actually put that much focus towards school when they were kids, he wouldn’t be as dumb as he is now. When Kel noticed Aubrey, he grinned and called out “Hey Aubr-” A basketball went flying into the side of his face causing Kel to crumble onto the pavement.

Yep. Classic Kel. Kel made the motion to his buddies signaling a time out as Aubrey marched towards him. Kel stood up and went right back to greeting her saying “Aubrey! What brings you he-” Aubrey grabbed him by the ear and pulled him off the court, Kel complaining The whole way off. “What the heck was that all about!?” He exclaimed

“You. Me. Gino’s. In 20 minutes. Don’t be late.” Aubrey replied and then walked away. “What was that about?” Kel muttered to himself before calling out for his teammates to go on without him.

If Aubrey was like this, it was probably serious. Even he knew that. He made his way over to Faraway Plaza and walked into Gino’s. Aubrey was sitting at her usual table by the jukebox by herself. She already had a pizza waiting for them, but had reserved slices of her own so that Kel didn’t steal them all like last time.

When Kel sat down, Aubrey had immediately regretted not telling Kel to take a shower before he came because he was drenched in sweat and smelled like a wet dog. She tried her best to breath out of her mouth as Kel asked her a question. “So you wanna tell me what this is all about?”

Aubrey had expected that question and already had her answer prepared well in advance. “Is what you said in our text convo last night true? About Hero looking out the window in the direction of Sunny’s place?” Kel nodded, his mouth already full of pizza.

“We’ll get this.” Aubrey replied. “I sent out Angel and Mikhael this morning to go investigate Sunny’s place and they told me they saw Hero and Sunny walking around together.” Kel’s face failed to hide his confusion. “Wait, you made Angel and Mikhael spy on Sunny’s house?” He asked.

As strange as it was, Aubrey was curious and wanted answers. Angel was probably the best one for the job because he knew how to be stealthy. This would’ve been really creepy if Aubrey didn’t see this trait to be as useful as it was. Charlie would’ve also been good enough to go with him, but The Maverick was the only other one that was willing to get up early enough for a stakeout so she was left with no choice but to send him out alongside Angel.

Aubrey took a small bit of her pizza. “That’s not really the point here. Sunny was supposed to have moved out _yesterday_. So why would he still be in town. And why would he be leaving the house that he supposedly moved out of?”

Kel’s face became even more confused as if he completely forgot what they were even talking about in the first place “Oh yeah. That really is strange. Why don’t we just ask him? If he really is still here then we can just find him right?”

Aubrey scowled. “Are you forgetting that he’s the one who killed Mari? I’d rather not speak to him right now.” “Well, yeah he killed Mari and made it look like a suicide and there’s not much of an excuse for that, but it was an accident. Not to mention him and Basil were kids. Honestly I dunno how I would’ve reacted to that if I was in his position even now.”

Kel was somehow already on his third slice of pizza. “And besides Aubrey. You of all people should know how he feels after what you did to Basil.”

Aubrey thought back to when she shoved Basil into the lake not too long ago. She felt horrible then and she doesn’t feel any less horrible thinking back on it now. Scarily, if Hero wasn’t there to save them both, Aubrey would’ve been in a pretty similar situation to Sunny’s four years ago.

Sunny wasn’t as fortunate to have the right people in the right place at the right time back then like she was, and even if that was the case, it might not have even helped, according to how Sunny described it all. _Damn it,_ she thought _Does Kel actually have a point for once?_

“Fine.” said Aubrey. “Maybe you’re right. We can look for him later. Just take a shower first will ya?” Kel let out a laugh and showed off his signature grin. “You’ve got it, dude!”

Kel went on ahead back to his house when Aubrey’s phone rang. An unknown number. She wasn’t really in the mood for phone calls so she let it go to voicemail and exited the restaurant. Suddenly her phone rang again as she walked back. Another unknown number? But it was a different unknown number.

Screw it. She thought as she answered the phone. The voice on the other end was weak and shy sounding. “h-hi is this aubrey?” Sunny? This is not how she expected things to go. Kel probably hadn’t even gotten home yet but he was definitely too far for her to catch up to him even by bike. “Sunny? Is that you?” She replied.

“yes. I know this is kind of at a short notice but can we maybe talk? at our old hangout spot.” Aubrey’s mind was racing at a thousand times per minute. What was he doing back in Faraway? How did he get her number? Since when did he have a phone? What did he want to talk about?

She figured that if he wanted to meet with her on his own volition, it would just be easier to ask him everything when they were face to face. Aubrey turned back in the direction of the park saying “I’m on my way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Floored at the amount of support I've gotten so far in only one day! As I've mentioned before I am currently transferring the current story over from a google doc version that I am still currently writing. The story is currently in ACT 3 and is at 12 chapters in total and counting, so you shouldn't have to wait very long for new updates! Once again, thank you all for the support!


	6. Act 1: Reconciliation Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny and Aubrey reconcile and Basil returns from the hospital.

Aubrey pushed through the bushes, ignoring the thorns trying so hard to grab at her clothes. When she finally got to their old hangout spot she took a seat at the end of the dock by the lake. As she looked down into the depths, she thought back to Kel’s words. _“And besides Aubrey. You of all people should know how he feels after what you did to Basil.”_

She shuddered at the thought of her emotional outburst that day as she waited for Sunny to arrive. Sure enough, after a little bit more waiting, Aubrey heard the bushes behind her rustle. She looked back and saw Sunny slowly making his way towards her.

She remembered how surprised she was when he reappeared out of nowhere after four years. She was already so emotional at the time, that she didn’t exactly know how to feel at all. She even made an effort to not attack Sunny when he and Kel tried to defend Basil from her. Then he decided to stab her with a knife. What even was that about anyways? Was this guy who didn’t hesitate to pull a knife on her really the same person she was enamored with as a kid?

Was the person walking towards her really the same as the one that killed the girl she looked up to the most? So many thoughts were floating around in her head as Sunny finally reached her, clearly exhausted from all the walking and sat down next to her. “Hey.” She said, greeting him. “hi aubrey. glad you were willing to hear me out.” He replied. Aubrey didn’t answer.

Sunny couldn’t really tell what was going on in her head, but he knew she was ready to listen to whatever he had to say so he cleared his throat and started talking. “i’m so sorry for everything that’s happened the last four years. when mari died, i wasn’t thinking rationally it was my selfishness and anger that got the better of me that night and i paid the price for it all. can’t say i didn’t deserve it all. i hurt everyone and to top it off i abandoned my best friends in their time of need just to run and hide from my problems. i can’t change what happened on the past, but i can try with whatever power i have left to make it up to all of you. you, basil, hero, and kel are the most special people to me and if i have to throw everything away to make things right again, i will. i know it doesn’t mean much and that i don’t deserve forgiveness but i really am sorry.”

Aubrey looked down at her reflection in the water. “It’s fine. Although it’s still a bit hard to forgive you sometimes, I can kinda relate to your situation. I didn’t suffer nearly as much as you did and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

She looked at him and gave him a small smile, which Sunny returned. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity until Aubrey broke the silence with the question that’s been on her mind all day. “So what exactly are you still doing here? Weren’t you supposed to have left for the city yesterday?” Sunny looked away and said “i decided to stay here for just a little while longer.”

Aubrey was still confused. “Wait...what about your mom? I doubt she’d be willing to just cancel all moving plans like that.” Sunny eyes became distant. “actually, my dad moved back in so i’m staying with him now.”

Sunny’s dad was back? She could’ve sworn his dad abandoned the family after Mari’s death. So why would he suddenly come back? She thought back to the memories of her own dad. Bad memories. Her parents never really cared for her so she always had to fend for herself. If she hadn’t met her friends as a kid, she probably would’ve been in a way worse state than now “S-Sunny, I-” her statement was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.

Sunny watched as she answered the phone and put it to her ear. “Kim? Oh… same place? Got it… on my way, don't move.” After she hung up, she said to him “Ok I’m super sorry about this but I have to go. It’s kinda important. I’ll probably be busy tomorrow too so how about we chat again on Monday?”

Sunny nodded and after giving him a playful punch to the shoulder she got on her bike and rode away. Sunny couldn’t help but watch as she rode out of view as he felt his cheeks get warm. By now, the sun was already starting to set so Sunny got ready to walk home home. As he walked home, Omori followed close by, expressionless as usual.

— —

Kel rushed out of the house after his shower was done but unfortunately, Aubrey was nowhere in sight. She wasn’t even answering his texts. Kel figured that she got impatient and went looking without him.

He started to roam around town looking for her when a car zoomed by him. Was that Basil in the back of the car? It definitely was from what Kel could tell. Kel decided that the Sunny rumors could wait until later and started in the direction of Basil’s house. He’d probably have to make it quick though because the sun was definitely going to start going down soon.

When he got to Basil’s house, the car was already empty so he knocked on Basil’s door. Polly opened the door and flashed a quick smile at him. “Oh hi Kel. Are you here to see Basil? He’s in bed right now trying to get some rest but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having your company for a little bit.”

Kel thanked Polly and entered the flower-filled home. “Would you like to stay here for dinner?” Polly asked as he marched in the direction of Basil’s room.

“Man, that’s really tempting! Normally, I’d definitely say yes, but my Mom’s been really crazy about us all having dinner together while Hero’s home from college. Gonna have to pass here but definitely another time!” Kel said with a grin before bursting into Basil’s room shouting “BASIL! HOW’S IT GOING BUDDY?”

Basil, who was just starting to doze off nearly leapt out of his bed, startled by Kel’s sudden entrance. “Oh hi Kel” Basil replied sheepishly. Kel knelt down by Basil’s bed, retaining his classic Kel smile and asked “You feeling alright there? How was the hospital?”

Basil gave Kel a gentle smile before replying. “Well, I do still have a little bit of discomfort from my injuries, but that’s to be expected.” Basil let out a sigh “Honestly, even though I beat up pretty bad, I still feel a lot better now than I ever felt in the past four years.”

Kel put a hand on Basil’s shoulder “Dude that’s great to hear! Just take things one step at a time. The kinda stuff you’ve had to deal with isn’t exactly...ideal y’know? I used a big word should you know I’m serious there!”

Basil chuckled, ignoring the fact that ideal was nowhere near a big word. He just felt relieved that he and Sunny could finally find peace in their dark situation. Sunny... it had only been a day but Basil really missed Sunny. He hoped that Sunny would be able to successfully start over in the city now that neither of them were being held back by Something. The two boys spent the next hour talking about their future plans before Kel had to leave for dinner at his house.

Once Kel got back to his place, he hesitated. Sunny’s house was still right next door. Sure his mom would be a little annoyed that he was late for dinner but maybe it was worth it for the answers. Sunny, Mom, Sunny, Mom, Sunny… Mom… Kel thought back and forth to himself like that until his front door flew open and his mom came out “Kelsey!? What are you doing just standing out there? Can’t you see it’s dark? Everyone’s already waiting for your inside! Now get in here before the food gets cold!”

“Yes, Mom…” said Kel as he walked into the house, sulking.


	7. Act 1: Reconciliation Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Final Chapter of Act 1. Family dinner time for all our characters. We see Aubrey reflecting on Kim’s mysterious phone call, Hero’s thoughts on forgiving Sunny, and a totally pleasant night for Sunny. Also there’s a dog now so that’s cool.

Aubrey was definitely starting to get overwhelmed at this point with everything that’s been going on this past week. She entered her house pretty late because she decided to work on a few practice swings with her bat in the backyard for a while. She was gonna need some brushing up if what Kim told her was true. 

Once the construction that’s blocking the road west of Faraway Park was gone, it was all fair game. If they were lucky, the construction workers would be just as negligent as they always were and they wouldn’t have to worry for another month or so. It would’ve just been easier if she had answered that first phone call earlier that day, but it’s no use to regret that now. Aubrey walked past her mother, still watching whatever garbage was on TV as usual and climbed up to her room.

Bun-Bun greeted her happily as Aubrey took her out of her cage and gently stroked her. This was interrupted by the sound of a muffled pounding coming from the floor. Probably the result of her mother throwing the heaviest thing she could chuck without damaging the furniture at the roof, which was generally the signal for Aubrey to go and make some food for them.

She sighed and after putting the adorable bunny back into the cage, she walked downstairs to see whatever there was to throw in the microwave. The only thing that caught her eye was a medium sized frozen pizza. Nothing wrong with having pizza twice in one day right? She took the pizza out of the freezer, thinking to herself how much she really needed to get out of there one of these days.

— —

Despite the circumstances, Hero felt pretty proud of himself right now. The love of his life was accidentally killed by her own brother but he was able to muster up some semblance of forgiveness...no...more like tolerance. His therapist always told him that it’s better to forgive others because he would want to be forgiven too if he was in the opposite situation. Or that’s probably what they would say if he had a therapist. He should probably get on that soon, especially now.

Hero finished the dinner that he helped his mother cook earlier and got up to collect everyone’s plates. He _did_ promise to help his mother with chores back when he and Kel were hanging out with Sunny. He walked over to the kitchen while Kel was monologuing to their dad about everyone in America having a cheese drawer in their fridge or something. He arrived in the kitchen just in time because then Sally started wailing. 

His mother sighed and said “Sorry, can you finish these dishes up while I go take care of Sally? Great thanks!” She hurried away muttering to herself about how she’s never gonna get a chance to spend time with her son.

Sally. She was just a baby. A well of untapped potential. She could grow up to one day be the most important person in America, or she could make a horrible mistake that causes her to to end up almost throwing her life away from guilt. That’s already happened to way too many of Hero’s loved ones.

He would make sure to help Sally become a great person as she grows up. Hero needed to be the one she looked up to as a role model and a great older brother. Kel too of course but he’s...Kel.

  
Hero would be brave for her. He would be brave for everyone he loved. The future was as unpredictable as ever but he was certain about one thing. He wanted to help people one day. As a doctor, a brother, a friend, and… a hero. _I’ll be a real hero one day..._ Hero thought. _I’ll do it for you Mari._

— —

When Sunny got home, he was greeted with silence. A beige sofa, a large shelf, and a television sat in the middle of the living room where the lawn chairs sat the night before. The furniture must’ve arrived while he was out. Sunny’s observations were interrupted by something furry jumping against his leg. He looked down to see a white Pomeranian jumping cheerfully against his leg. A dog? Where did this come from?

Suddenly Adelaide came rushing into the living room. “Oh welcome home, Sunny! Sorry about that by the way. I see you’ve already met Borfy. He’s a dog that your father and I had back at our old place. He’s a bit old so he doesn’t have a ton of energy but it looks like he’s warming up to you nicely!”

Sunny always saw himself as more of a cat person but never actually had any problems with dogs. He recalled times when he would play with Hector whenever he and his friends were over at Hero and Kel’s house. Once he tried to bring Mewo over to meet Hector, but the dog’s high energy nature clearly stressed her out so Mari had to take her back home.

Sunny bent down and pet Borfy gently with a slight smile. Borfy licked Sunny’s cheek before jumping on the sofa to take a nap. “Don’t tell your dad about that. He hates it when Borfy gets on the couch because he sheds'' Adelaide whispered to him. “where is dad anyways?” Sunny asked. “Oh, he’s taking a shower. Once he gets out, we can have dinner” she replied.

Sunny sat down on the sofa with his head resting in his knees until he heard footsteps down the stairs. Borfy knew what it meant and immediately jumped down onto the floor before going right back to sleep. His father walked into the room and sat down at the dinner table. “Oh good timing” said Adelaide, cheerful as always “Sunny! Dinner’s ready!”

Sunny got up and sat down at the table, glancing awkwardly at his father as the plates full of steaming hot food was set down on the table. Steak and mashed potatoes with a side of broccoli.

Steak was always Sunny’s favorite food so the meal would’ve been infinitely more pleasant if he didn’t have to feel his dad’s eyes burning holes into him. He began to wonder where his dad was that morning. It was the weekend, so it was doubtful that he was working unless he got a change in career, which wouldn’t have surprised him very much since his once jovial and paternal father had yet to say much of anything to him since he arrived.

Sunny had almost mustered up the courage to ask what he was up to today until a voice stopped him. _“Are you sure you want to do that?”_ Sunny looked up. Omori was backed up against a wall across the table from him, staring judgingly.

Sunny nearly choked on a piece of the steak. “S-Sunny are you alright?” Adelaide asked, tapping his back to make sure he didn’t choke. Sunny felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his face. He nodded.

Was he really that nervous? _“Dad hates you. Can't you see that? He knows exactly how much of a murderer you are. If you really wanted him to feel as good as he possibly can in a situation like this, you would stay away from him as much as possible.”_ Sunny glanced at his father, who was taking a bite of his broccoli. He flashed back to the axe hitting the tree. Stay away… You are not my son… those words, despite being uttered 4 years ago still cut as deep as the knife Omori would wield.

 _He’s right._ Sunny thought to himself. _I’m just a burden to Dad. I’m not his son. I’m just the killer that happened to be related to his daughter. I’m pathetic. Not worthy of the forgiveness I’ve been given._

Omori walked away, knowing in his heart that his job was done for now. Sunny finished his dinner in silence, Adelaide’s ramblings becoming muffled noise to him and his father’s replies fading to white noise.

## End Of Act 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading Act 1 of Sunset in a Faraway Land! With this being the final chapter of the act, you should expect the next act very soon! Maybe it'll be there by the time you're reading this too! Once again, thanks for enjoying this! It's just getting started!


	8. Act 2: Readjustment Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kel’s attempt to get Sunny to exercise more leads to Sunny getting into shenanigans with Kel, Kel’s friend Jay and The Maverick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the beginning of Act 2! This act comes with a bit of a tone shift but even so, it's my favorite act so far as of right now and I hope you'll all find enjoyment out of it as well.

Falling. Pain. Guilt. Dragging. Sunny came to lying on his back. He heard birds chirping and he could see a night sky, but he couldn’t move. He felt 4 hands clutching at his helpless body trying to move him around. Where was he going? Where were they taking him? Who was holding him? Suddenly, the mysterious hands gently placed him on the ground. He saw the base of a tree and some grass.

He still couldn’t move. This felt all too familiar to him. He could hear a distorted voice nearby. “S͏̕͝i̶͟͜͞t̷ ̧͜͜ţ̡i̴̢̧͜͡g̡͠҉͘h̷̷t̛͘͠͠.͝͏̛ ̢͟҉I̷̕͞҉ ̛҉̴̧r͠ȩ҉̴҉a̷̵̷d҉ ̨̡͡ḩ͝͡ơ̢w̷͝ ̡̡̕t͟͞ǫ͜͝ ̢҉̴҉̢d̵̡o ͏t̶̡͘h͘͝i̡̡ş̧ ̴̵͢i͏͟n͜͝ ͠a͡ ̡͠b͘͢͏̧̕o̸͜͞ơk̷͟.͞”

He could hear a thud, followed by the sound of a rope being tightened. Sunny could not move or speak but he silently pleaded for them to not do it. He cried. He screamed. But it was for naught. They couldn’t hear him. Suddenly he felt the hands over his body again. They sat his body up and he could see a pair of hands bringing a loop closer to his head. Sunny was filled with an agonizing amount of fear, knowing there was nothing that he could do and knowing exactly how this story ended.

He woke with a start, drenched with sweat and tears streaming from his eyes. Just a dream. A dream. What was once his method of escape was becoming a place even worse than the real world. A familiar knocking sound pounded at his door. He could hear the door open and muffled voices. Kel? Sunny climbed out of bed and walked down the stairs.

Sure enough Kel was standing in the doorway with his trademark grin, talking to Adelaide. When Kel saw Sunny, his face became one of surprise. “Woah so it’s true! You never actually left town.” “Is this your friend Sunny?” Asked Adelaide. Sunny nodded. “h-hi kel.”

Adelaide shook Kel’s hand and said “Nice to meet you Kel! I’m Adelaide. Feel free to come in! Would you like some tea? Ooh! Or maybe some apple or orange juice? Those two fruit vending men really know how to sell a product! I have extras that’ll probably last until the end of the Summer!”

Kel nodded and walked in smiling “I’ll never pass down some good ol’ grub! Well...unless my mom has something to say about it… Anyways, I’ll take orange juice! It’ll never be as good as Orange Joe but energy is energy I guess.” Sunny wasn’t surprised that Kel and Adelaide got along almost immediately. They both seemed to have similar outlooks on life.

It was almost admirable how carefree they could be at times. As Kel walked by, he grabbed Sunny by the shoulder. “Dude, you should get something too. You’re gonna need as much energy as you can get for what I have planned for us today!” Sunny was puzzled “what do you mean?” Kel downed his orange juice so fast, you’d think it teleported.

Kel chuckled as if Sunny was making a joke. “Well, last week I thought it was our last few days together so I wanted a nice chill blend of activities to get the nostalgia pumping, but now that you’re still here I figure we get the _blood pumping this time!_ I mean, just one look at you and anyone can tell just how out of shape you are! You’re just as pale and thin as a sheet of paper! So...we’re gonna exercise this time!”

“kel, i-” stammered Sunny before Kel interrupted him “Dude don’t worry! I’ll go easy on you alright? Also you’re gonna wanna put on some nice, breathable clothes that are good for exercise. Speaking of which, your babysitter or whatever told me you were just asleep. Don’t tell me you sleep in collared shirts and sweater vests too? Where are the jammies, man?

Sunny shrugged. Sunny always had a decent sense in fashion. He could remember times as kids, where his friends or Mari would ask for his approval on the clothes they picked out at the store. He never really dressed very flashily or fashionably because he figured the less attention he got, the better.

Kel got in close as if he was telling him a secret “Y’know what really works? No PJ’s. Just underwear. Once you go commando in bed, you’ll _never_ wanna go back! I haven’t done it that much recently though because I don’t want Hero to get jealous of how fit I am” Kel started flexing, showing off his admittedly impressive muscles.

The thought of Hero ever really being jealous of his brother’s impressive build made Sunny chuckle a little bit. Kel’s smile grew even larger “Oh woah a laugh from Sunny! How rare! I feel honored! Now get ready. I’ll be waiting in here so don’t think about flaking on me.” Sunny climbed back up the stairs and got ready.

After finding out that all of his non-polo shirts were far too small for him, he settled on his usual style of shirt, minus the sweater vest and some grey sweatpants that actually _did_ fit him. Kel and Sunny left the house after a few minutes of Kel chastising Sunny for his lackluster clothing variety.

— —

As the two boys strolled down the sidewalk, Kel turned to Sunny. “So, who even was that in your house? A tutor or something? You were always smart, even after not going to school for a few years.” “thanks kel, but that doesn’t really mean much coming from you” Sunny jokingly retorted.

Kel laughed “But really, who is she? Is she the reason why you’re still living in Faraway town?” Sunny frowned at the thought of his father. “well, my dad moved back into town so i’m living with him for the time being. adelaide is his girlfriend.”

Kel was understandably shocked “Woah your dad’s back? I never would’ve expected that! How is he?” “fine.” Sunny lied. Or at least he thought he was lying. He couldn’t tell at all what was going on in his father's head and was starting to think that it was better that way. Just like the day before, his dad was nowhere to be found in the house. Sunny changed the subject. “what exercises are we doing? running or stretching or something like that?”

Kel thought to himself for a second before answering. “Well, honestly I wasn’t too sure. I was just gonna wing it but now that you mentioned it, that’s a good idea. Run a few laps and stretch a little. It’s good for you _and_ it’s simple enough for even you to do!” _Gee, thanks_ Sunny thought.

— —

When they got to Faraway Park, they were greeted with a familiar face. Well, familiar to Kel at least. “Jay! Jay! What’s up man!?” Kel called out. The blonde haired Jock stopped his exercise to greet Kel. “Kel! How’s it going my guy?”

The two did the manliest embrace Sunny had ever seen before Jay turned to Sunny. “Oh and what’s up little man? Wasn’t he the one that was moving last week Kel?”

Kel, who was tying his hair into a ponytail to prepare for the exercise session answered for him “Well, yeah but that’s not really the case anymore. Thought he could use some exercise, so here we are! Care to join us? You wanted to be on the basketball team at school right? One thing you should always do when you’re practicing is get those joints working with some stretches. Though I’m sure you knew that with you being a football jock and all.”

Jay did a grin, reminiscent of Kel’s, almost as if he was being trained to smile like Kel too. “You know it, bro! I’m in!” After stretching for a bit, the three boys decided to run up and down the sidewalk. Sunny was exhausted after only a few minutes of running, but kept going because he knew he wouldn’t hear the end of it from Kel if he didn’t.

After a while of running on the sidewalk, Jay asked Kel a question “Dude there’s so much room in the Park today. Why’re we just running on the sidewalk?” Kel’s face got a bit sweaty, but with nervous sweat instead of work out sweat. Sunny knew this because the sun wasn’t too intense that day and both Jay and Kel hardly looked even remotely tired while they were running. They were probably going easy for Sunny’s sake.

“W-well y’know the sun bounces off the sidewalk and gives us those...vitamin D nutrients and stuff. Pretty energizing but it only works on sidewalks and stuff y’know?” Kel stammered out.

Jay was clearly just as confused as Sunny. “What? Dude it’s overcast right now. If I wanted some serious vitamin D, I’d probably. Play volleyball on the beach.”

A slight giggle sounded from behind the fence nearby. Right next to them, sat the girl with the light blue hair, Chris. “Oh, sorry Kel! I just thought your pseudoscience lesson was a little humorous.”

Kel’s face became visibly red, a rare sight to Sunny, since Kel was always a pretty shameless guy. “C-cut me some slack here Chris! Everyone knows light bounces off stuff! I memorized _that_ in class!”

Chris just smiled and chuckled “Well, you boys have fun with your...sidewalk...sunbathing...marathon?” Sunny looked at Jay, who had a smug expression, implying that unlike Sunny, he knew exactly what was going on.

Jay started panting heavily. “Oh man, on second thought, maybe I went a bit too hard on that one lap there. I’m exhausted! Here’s some money Kel. Why don’t you go over to Othermart and go get me something...refreshing? Chris, you should go with him. You know how easily he gets distracted!”

Jay fished out a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to Kel before dragging a surprised Chris from behind the fence and pushing them together. Kel’s face got so red, you would think it was about to pop from the sheer amount of blood in his face.

“Wait b-” Jay interrupted “Nope! I’m sooo tired. I think I might die from exhaustion! You two are the only ones that can do this, got it? Great! You kids have fun!” The two stumbled off in the direction of Othermart leaving Jay with a very ignorant and confused Sunny.

Shortly after, the bushes nearby began to rustle and out hopped The Maverick...or rather Mikhael since he was missing his blonde wig.

“AH HA!” he shouted “I HAVE FINALLY FOUND YOU MY DEAR NEMESIS KEL! AND NOW, TO ONCE AGAIN CHALLENGE HIM TO A REMATCH!” Mikhael looked around, confused. “W-where’s that nerd Kel?”

Jay just shook his head “You just missed him, dude.” Sunny made his best effort to communicate to Mikhael that he was missing his wig, which caused him to frantically leap back into the bushes and come back out shortly after with the wig placed lopsided on his head.

 _“I really shouldn’t have dozed off like that. Now I look like a fool”_ he muttered, picking small sticks and leaves out of the mess of blonde hair. “So where’d he run off to? Did he get scared or something?”

Jay put a hand on his shoulder, wearing a look that could only be described as pity. “Can you give it a rest for now dude? The man’s in love y’know? Surely you’d know how that feels right? Everyone does in their own ways...” He trailed off, glancing in the direction of a pretty boy reading a probably inappropriate book by himself on one of the park benches.

The Maverick cackled. He tried to play it off with a show of confidence to hide the fact that he found genuine romance a lot harder than paying off girls to pretend to care about him.

“Pfft of course! That stuff’s way too easy y’know? When you get too much of one thing, it starts to become a way of life, where your only source of sustenance is the fruitless search for a sensation that’s better than the last. You’ve gotta find the holy grail of girls dude! Nowadays, I can’t get the ladie’s hands off me! But that’s just how it is. I have to turn them all down because I have my eyes set on the _real_ holy grail. That holy grail, being our lovely leader Aubrey of course! Once I’m with her, we’ll be like the king and queen of Faraway! Only then, will my pilgrimage of irresistibility be complete.”

Sunny couldn’t help but feel a tinge of annoyance at The Maverick’s last statement in the pit of his stomach. More so than he would normally feel when they usually dealt with The Maverick’s embarrassing attempts to best him and Kel. He had yet to understand that this is what the feeling of a competitive jealousy was like.

Jay, who probably had stopped listening awhile ago simply dismissed The Maverick’s monologue “Yeah, yeah whatever. Just save it for later ok. It’d be better to leave Kel alone for the time being.” The Maverick sighed “Ok fine maybe I will. But not because you told me to. I was supposed to be here on a mission and got a bit distracted anyways.”

“A...mission? What kinda mission?” Jay replied. “I’m glad you asked!” said The Maverick. “I’m supposed to keep an eye on the construction over that-a-way.” He pointed in the direction of the construction to the west of Faraway Park. “If it gets taken down or messed with, I’ve gotta call Aubrey or Kim pronto. It’s in shifts so Vance has the next one in like 20 minutes or something. I kinda forgot how long honestly so I guess I should go so they don’t know I was slacking. The girls can be pretty scary when they’re mad. See ya losers!”

And with that, he marched off, leaving Jay and Sunny both in a confused silence.

It didn’t last for long though, because a voice called from behind them. “Heads up Jay!” The two boys turned around in time for Sunny to get pelted in the face with a cold protein drink. Sunny flew back and fell on his butt, rubbing his temple.

Kel and Chris were hurrying down the sidewalk, both holding plastic bags that were filled with way more stuff than necessary. “Woah, Sunny! Are you alright?” Kel asked “S-sorry about that! Nervous aim y’know?” Jay grabbed the drink off the ground and took a swig from it.

“You two have fun?” He asked, winking at Kel. “Well, yeah of course,” Chris said cheerfully. “Kel made a nice suggestion to get as much stale bread as we could to feed the birds at the beach! I had to tell him it wasn’t exactly the best idea because seagulls can get pretty ferocious if they find out you have food!”

“We settled on the lake near our old hangout spot!” said Kel “We’ll have to get together some of these days and do that all together. We’ll make sure to bring Hero and Basil and Aubrey along too!” “Sounds like a plan!'' said Jay with a smile.

Kel ran over to the vending machine and started shoving coins in the slot. “Now then! Who wants some Orange Joe?” Silence. “kel didn’t we already establish a couple days ago that the soda in there was gross and old?” asked Sunny.

“Pssh! Doesn’t ring a bell to me!” said Kel. The rest of it ended almost exactly as it did the previous week. Kel still drank it anyways to everyone’s disgust.

— —

**Aubrey > > > Sunny**   
**Sunday 8:26 PM**

**Aubrey:** Sup Sunny

 **Sunny:** Hi

 **Aubrey:** We still on for tomorrow? You didn’t forget about that promise did you?

 **Sunny:** Don’t worry. Unless Kel drags me out first thing in the morning to exercise all day as an excuse to impress a girl again, I’m pretty sure I’ll make it. Same place as last time right?

 **Aubrey:** ofc! But hang on back it up for a second. Kel has a crush? Never could’ve seen that coming lmao

 **Sunny:** I guess so

 **Aubrey:** You’ll have to tell me all about that trainwreck tomorrow ok?

 **Sunny:** Yeah

 **Aubrey:** : )

 **Sunny:** Oh cool that looks like a face

 **Aubrey:** Yeah! Dude how far back are you in time? It’s not like emoticons were invented in the last 4 years lol

 **Sunny:** I guess not. Sorry I’m still getting used to messaging people.

 **Aubrey:** Don’t sweat it! It’s almost adorable watching you readjust for society XD

 **Sunny:** DX

 **Sunny:** Oh wait I typed it backwards I think

 **Sunny:** What does that even mean?

 **Aubrey:** Lol yep. Still adorable


	9. Act 2: Readjustment Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny and Aubrey hang out and it gets pretty fluffy. Meanwhile the hooligans + Kel and Hero have an "important" meeting.

Kel had been through quite a few unorthodox situations recently but this was definitely up there. Earlier that day he was out running errands with Hero and minding his own business when he was approached by Angel, Charlene, and The Maverick. 

“Kinda confidential here but we ‘hooligans’ have a little meeting later tonight.” said Angel “We set up a group chat to make sure everyone's free and whatnot and everyone was able to make it...except Aubrey. She’s kinda the leader and all so it’s pretty important that she’s there too. If she wasn’t free, we could just reschedule. But nope! Radio silence.”

Kel crossed his arms and asked “Okay so why’s this my problem? I’m not one of you guys. She’s probably just busy with something else. It’s best not to bother her.”

The Maverick suddenly cut in “Look, it’s not like we _want_ your help or anything. She seems to trust you nerds pretty well. You managed to get her out of her house not too long ago, which was a feat that even Kim couldn’t achieve so at the very least you can be our good luck charm or something. Maybe you can be there to take the punch for us if we see here doing something really secretive maybe?”

Kel was annoyed at how the three kids were blatantly using him for their own gain. But even so, Aubrey _was_ their friend and if something ended up going badly, and they weren’t there to stop it when they were given the option to, the guilt would just be too much to bear. He sighed. Was he really gonna do this? “Fine.” He said reluctantly.

Suddenly, Hero spoke up “Kel! Don’t you know it’s not cool to spy on people! It’s just plain creepy.” As much as Kel agreed with his brother, he also couldn’t help but feel a little curious himself.

“You’re right Hero. But I’m not sure if I wanna take any chances.” He turned to the hooligans “I’ll help you out for a quick second. But as soon as I see that there’s nothing to be worried about, you guys are on your own.” Kel was met from relieved looks from the hooligans and a judgmental and disapproving look from Hero.

Then they walked off to investigate Aubrey’s current endeavor.

— —

Sunny had arrived at the hangout spot a bit earlier than the originally planned time. He was fine with it though because it gave him some time to think. What was he even doing here? What did Aubrey want to talk with him about? His mind couldn’t help but wander off before he quickly shook off the thought.

 _Maybe we’re gonna have a surprise party. Everyone will be there. Probably not. Hero would probably be the one most suited to organize something like that._ Soon, also early, he heard the bushes rumble and in walked Aubrey. She wasn’t wearing her usual casual wear, instead sporting a yellow and white dress that almost looked like something that Mari would wear.

Mari… Aubrey really loved Mari to the point where she would even occasionally own clothes that would remind Aubrey of her. Sunny tried to shake off the pit in his stomach as she approached. She was carrying around a small purse and her hair looked slightly silkier than usual too and was that...perfume he smelled? With how formally she was dressed, Sunny felt a little bit embarrassed to be wearing his usual style of attire. Why was Aubrey dressed like that anyways?

“Looks like you’re pretty early there, Sunny.” She said casually. Sunny realized he had been staring and replied “w-well yes...you look nice. what’s the occasion?” Aubrey looked slightly annoyed “Well, I just thought maybe I should just wear something different for a change today. I can see _you_ definitely didn’t bother to try anything different on.”

Sunny looked down, embarrassed “i’m sorry. i didn’t have much else to wear.”

Aubrey’s annoyed face turned apologetic. “I-I guess that’s fine. Sorry about that. Maybe I’ll have to take clothes shopping one day. It’ll be like old times!” Aubrey smiled “yeah i guess so.”

Sunny said looking back up at her. “so what did you want to talk to me about?”

Aubrey’s expression turned serious. She sat down in front of him in the grass. “It’s about your dad.” Sunny’s heart sank at the mention of his father.

He could see Omori watching him in the distance, making sure he didn’t screw anything up. “what about him?” Sunny asked.

“Well, how do you feel about him coming back?” She asked. “i don’t know. my dad has hardly said a word to me all weekend and he always disappears during the day so it’s about the same as him never being around.”

Aubrey frowned “Are you okay with that? Do you figure that it’s better to not interact with him than to make him hate you more? I mean think about it, he was willing to let you live with him again. That’s something he had every right to just say no to.”

“i guess.” Sunny said quietly. Honestly while his dad’s mysterious reappearance was puzzling to say the least, Omori had a point. No matter what, his dad hates him. “he probably only let me in because adelaide convinced him.” Sunny muttered.

Aubrey tilted her head “Adelaide? Doesn’t ring a bell. Who’s that?”

“my dad’s girlfriend. she’s really nice but she talks a lot. she’s probably the best part about staying home. she’s nice. just like mari.” answered Sunny.

Hearing Mari’s name in that context felt a little weird to Aubrey. Especially when her killer was right in front of her. _Sunny’s already suffered enough. He probably just takes comfort in the idea that there’s someone that cares for him at home again._

Sunny’s mother was always super nice. It was clear that Sunny loved him a lot, but she was always way too busy to be around him all the time, which clearly took a toll on Sunny’s psyche.

Aubrey was happy for him in a way. “When my dad left,” Aubrey said “I was devastated at first. He wasn’t the best father, but unlike my mom, he was willing to give me a chance at happiness every once in a while. I guess I do owe both my parents one thing though. If they weren’t so crappy, I probably never would’ve ended up meeting you guys by chance like that.”

Sunny nodded, giving her a supportive smile. Aubrey continued “What I’m saying is whatever you choose to do now that your dad’s back is all up to you. Try to patch things up with him or just avoid him. That’s all up to you. Maybe there’s even a hidden third option in there somewhere. Either way, just know we’ll all be supportive of whatever you decide to do.” Aubrey’s smile returned, her pink hair becoming more vivid with the light of the sunset.

“Things haven’t gotten any easier, but that doesn’t mean we have to suffer alone anymore okay?” Sunny wasn’t quite sure how to respond to this and he was already so caught off guard by Aubrey’s immense kindness. All he ended up doing was smiling and petting her on the head.

 _What are you doing Sunny? She’s not a dog, stop panicking!_ Sunny thought to himself.

Aubrey’s face turned a few shades of red and she gave Sunny a confused look. “W-what are you doing?” Sunny’s hand shot back down. Sunny felt pretty embarrassed by that whole exchange but before he could change the subject Aubrey stammered out “W-well I didn't say stop!”

Sunny’s hand went back up to stroking Aubrey’s soft hair. It may have been summer time, but Sunny still felt unusually warm. After that was said and done, Aubrey and Sunny decided to chat about whatever else was on their minds for a while until the sun had fully gone down. Sunny knew he would have to be home for dinner eventually, but even so, he didn’t really want to leave because of how comfortable he felt.

“Hey, can I sign your eyepatch?” Aubrey suddenly said. “what?” replied Sunny. “Y’know sign your eyepatch. Kinda like signing a cast or something. Just a way for people to know we still care and all that.” Aubrey sighed “I dunno maybe that was kinda dumb.” Sunny could see Aubrey getting even redder. “no, no! it’s fine. go ahead.” He said.

Aubrey reached into her purse and took out a small marker. “Come here.” She said. Sunny did as he was told, hoping he wasn’t blushing as hard as he thought he was.

The marker tickled Sunny’s eyelid a little bit as she wrote across the surface of the eyepatch. Sunny wondered what it was that she was writing on it. Maybe it was a joke that only they would get? Maybe a secret message that would send him and the others on a wild goose chase around town looking for treasure. Maybe she was just drawing a little doodle. Sunny thought to himself that he was probably just overthinking it.

Shortly after, Aubrey put the marker down, saying “There! All done! Just don’t look at it until you get back home okay?” Sunny nodded, thinking a bit strange that even though she had finished writing in his eyepatch, she hadn’t moved away from his face yet. _What’s happening?_ Sunny thought as the two stared into each other’s eyes for a while. Sunny could almost swear Aubrey was slowly getting closer. Eventually their lips met in the middle. Did Aubrey just kiss him?

Sunny’s mind was racing at a billion times a second. He had no idea what to do in this situation. There was one time as a kid where Basil had given him a quick peck just for the two of them to know how it felt but this was different somehow. Time itself felt like it had stopped moving and Sunny’s heart felt like it would beat out of his chest.

He didn’t want it to end, but eventually it did and she pulled away, blushing and giggled. “Sorry. I just thought that was long overdue.”

Sunny figured at that point that whatever shade of red he was would have to be classified as a new color. He didn’t know what to say or do. “i...um...thank you?”

“It’s been awhile but what’s the harm in wanting to...pick up where we left off?” Aubrey said. “We’ve both changed in our own ways but you’re definitely still you Sunny. Never change that.” She stood up “Come on. It’s getting pretty late. Don’t want your dad getting even more pissed at you.”

“but…” Sunny said timidly. Aubrey smiled warmly “Y’know, another thing that me and Mari always had in common was thinking it’s _really_ cute to make a guy freak out like that haha. She had even given me a few tips on how to talk to you way back when… I never really had a chance to try them out though.”

“d-does this mean we’re...d-dating now?” That question felt weird coming out of Sunny’s mouth. Aubrey, who had already started walking away, turned back toward him. “Is that what you want? No objections here.” Then she continued to walk off, somehow not noticing the very shocked hooligans in addition to Kel and Hero (who had only followed to try and convince Kel to leave with him), who had watched it all go down.

— —

At Kim and Vance’s house, Kim couldn’t help but feel annoyed. On two hooligans had bothered to show up to the meeting so far and only because they both lived there already.

 _What’s the point of even saying you’re gonna come if you just end up flaking on us anyways?_ Kim thought. Her irritated train of thought was interrupted when her older brother, Vance halfheartedly walked into their room. “Any luck getting in contact with any of them?” Kim asked.

Vance shook his head sadly, “C’mon. Maybe some candy will make you feel better.” “Yeah…” said Kim, joining her brother.

— —

Kim remembered it just like any other day. One day at school, she saw Aubrey (who had recently dyed her hair pink. Apparently a lot of male classmates tried hitting on her after she first dyed her hair so she was already in a bad enough mood) messing with the blonde haired flower boy Basil. “If you like to draw so much, so why don’t you draw on this, ya creep?” She said, taking out a black marker and scribbling all over his sandwich.

Basil was as usual pretty pissy about it but it got a chuckle out of Kim. Something about Aubrey’s sudden boldness was refreshing to her and Vance.

After about two weeks of Aubrey playing her pranks, Basil got tired and told a teacher about it, causing Aubrey to get suspended for two days, which upset Kim. Nothing ticked her off more than a snitch.

After the school day, Kim and Vance went looking for Aubrey and eventually found her sitting by herself in the park. “What’s up? Aubrey was it?” Asked Kim. Aubrey turned to her, tears welled up in her eyes. “What’s it to you?” Kim couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughter. “Woah there! What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

“Nunya!” Aubrey retorted, sticking her tongue out at Kim, which caused her to laugh again. “You’re pretty funny,” said Kim, “What that blondie did to you wasn't right. What’s wrong with having a little fun eh?” Aubrey grinned mischievously “yeah...Yeah! It was pretty funny huh? The... little… dork definitely had it coming! Just you wait till I get back to school he’s definitely gonna get a piece of my mind!”

Kim smiled back “What’d he do to make you have it out for him like that?”

Aubrey’s face fell as she clenched her fists at the thought of it. “He...vandalized some pretty important photos. Absolutely ruined them all.”

Kim sat up, invested in the situation. “Woah dude,” she said “That ain’t cool. He totally deserved it. Don’t let any of those nerds tell you differently. They won’t understand how it feels to get wronged like that.” More tears started to come from Aubrey’s eyes “And to think I called him a _friend_ once."

Kim shook her head “Y’see that’s the problem. Don’t worry about that loser anymore. He’s not your friend. All those pictures and memories you guys made are bogus,” she put her arm around Aubrey “But _we’ll_ be your friends and make some totally less bogus memories, got it?”

Aubrey gave her a warm smile and nodded as Kim's grin got even wider. “Atta girl. Vance! Get your camera and take this photo for us will ya? We’re gonna solidify this as the day the good times started!”

— —

Kim’s flashback was interrupted by a barrage of knocks at the door of their room. “I got it!” Shouted Vance. As soon as the door was unlocked and the knob was turned all the missing hooligans (minus Aubrey) tumbled in.

Behind them stood Kel, looking down at them with a look of pity and Kel’s older brother (who Kim totally didn’t think was hot) Hero, who clearly didn’t want to be there. Angel was the first one up “Sorry we’re late Kim! It was totally worth it though we’ve got some juicy info here that you’re gonna wanna hear. You’re probably not gonna like it though.” 

The Maverick was the next one up “I wanna tell them! Stand down, plebeian!” Charlene was the last one to stand “A-Aubrey and Sunny were on a date…” This was followed up with groans from both The Maverick and Angel.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Kim said with a perplexed expression. “Slow down a second… what’s happening now?” 

Angel, who was still panting for air spoke first “Aubrey and Sunny--y’know the knife kid-- were just on a date right now! That’s why she was a no-show!”

Kim was both amused and in disbelief. The knife kid Sunny? The same one who hardly spoke and pulled a knife on her? It just didn’t add up. “What makes you think they were on a date? I mean she was hanging out with those two last week too, so is she dating them too?”

“No dude,” Angel shot back “This was pretty serious. They were like...smooching and stuff, man!”

Kim’s eye began to twitch “Sm-Smooch?” The Maverick looked crestfallen as he spoke, “My holy grail...stolen away by a weirdo with a knife…”

“Shut up Mikhael,” Kim retorted, “This is really bad… Why did this have to happen? On the list of things I expected to mess with our plans, this was nowhere near the top!”

“Yeah I didn’t really expect that either,” said Kel “But now that I think about it, those two really would be cute together!”

“Am I the only one that isn’t even remotely surprised by this? They’ve pretty much always been crushing on each other since we were kids.” said Hero. Kim turned her focus to the two brothers. “What are you two even doing here!? You’re not one of us!”

“Blame your goons for dragging us here.” retorted Kel. “It’s not like it’s our problem that you’re jealous or whatever.”

Kim’s eyes widened “JEALOUS!? YOU THINK I’M JEALOUS!? YOU TWO NERDS WANNA KNOW THE REAL ISSUE HERE? WELL I’LL TELL YOU THE REAL ISSUE HERE,” Kim’s voice was so loud, it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if the house started shaking. The yelling would’ve continued but Vance was able to calm her down by patting her shoulder.

Kim took a deep breath. “Right, right,” after a few seconds of breathing she continued, “You wanna know what’s really the problem with this? Because it sure ain’t jealousy. I couldn’t care less about who she goes out with. She’s her own woman after all. The problem is the timing. A few days ago we got a call from the Somora Town gang announcing for the _third year in a row_ that they were gonna come again. Aubrey’s always been essential on the front lines there so any distractions could spell disaster.”

Kel turned pale and sighed “Oh great, not again. I can’t play basketball while you weirdos are out doing your weird LARPing stuff. Can’t you take that somewhere else?” The Maverick approached Kel, attempting to backhand him, but missing due to Kel easily dodging the attack. “You call that LARPing? This is serious! Real stakes here! If we don’t do our job here, we’re all done for! You should be thanking us. Especially me! The Mave-”

Hero interrupted. “Man, they’re still at it? I was hoping things would be different when I came back from college this year, but I guess that's just wishful thinking. Thanks for at least giving us the heads up though. C’mon Kel. I think we’ve heard enough”

The two brothers promptly left the house, leaving the hooligans to think to themselves. “Well, I guess we can’t have the real meeting without our leader here huh? Thanks for telling me though.” “That’s it? Is there anything we can do about it?” asked Angel.

“Nah,” said Kim, “She made her own decision and I trust that she knows what she’s doing. I’ll talk to her about it but that’s all. Trying to get in the way’s only gonna make things worse, got it?”

The hooligans all nodded to Kim’s pleasure. “Now then, meeting adjourned...er..postponed...you guys get it. Go do something useful.”

— —

Despite it being night time, Sunny still felt that he had gotten home at a decent time. He had walked all the way home feeling a different kind of warmth. The kind of warmth that continuously numbed everything around it. All he could feel was his still-racing heart and a tingling sensation on his lips.

To his surprise, when he entered his home, his father actually was home this time. I guess it makes sense because he had gotten home later than usual. Even so, his father still didn’t even do as much as to turn around and look at him in the entrance. He just sat in the living room silently watching television.

As expected, Adelaide rushed in and greeted him. “Hello there Sunny! You’re rather late today… hanging out with friends tod-” suddenly she stared at his face and her smile became smug. “Ohh…. I think I get it,” she said giving Sunny a little wink, “No need for details here bud, hope you had fun! Your dinner’s ready in the kitchen!” Then she walked off into the kitchen.

What was that about? Sunny caught a glimpse of his father in the corner of his eye turning his head back in the direction of the tv. Was he looking at Sunny? No. It was probably just curiosity. After dinner, Sunny walked up to his room and hopped onto his bed, feeling just as exhausted as he had every day for the past week.

Aubrey’s words flashed in his head: Just don’t look at it until you get back home okay? The eyepatch. Maybe that’s what made Adelaide act so strangely. Well, stranger than usual. Sunny took the eyepatch off of his head and looked down at the writing on the surface. The writing on the eyepatch read: To us ♡ -Aubrey

Sunny put his head in his hands and wondered if he had a fever or he was supposed to be this warm. Did he really let Adelaide see something like that?


	10. Act 2: Readjustment Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woah imagine that guys! 10 chapters and still going strong! This is also the final chapter of Act 2. It may have been short but I hope is was a nice breather from all the sadness and awkwardness of Act 1! Anyways, now for the summary part: Sunny discovers a new card game that’s gained popularity in the city and after that Basil and Sunny finally see each other for the first time since the hospital and reconnect.

Sunny woke up to the usual sight. The ceiling of his room but it felt different though. Recently, Sunny had felt like he might have started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even though the days always started and ended the same way, maybe he could finally start to change the grey portion in the middle. 

Every day, he was starting to feel more of a schedule as the days went. If he put more effort into it, he might one day be able to say that his life was even remotely under his control. As he got out of bed, he drowsily checked his phone for any texts and saw that he had two new messages. One from Aubrey and one from Polly. He checked Aubrey’s message first.

**Aubrey > > > Sunny**

**Tuesday 9:19 AM**

**Aubrey:** Morning

 **Aubrey:** Just wanted to wish you a good day and tell you that if you even need anything, just shoot me a msg and I’ll be there k? <3

 **Sunny:** Will do ;P

 **Sunny:** I’m getting pretty good at those little text faces aren’t I?

Afterwards, Sunny checked Polly’s message, which was a reply to a question he asked her the previous night

**Sunny > > > Polly**

**Monday 8:33 PM**

**Sunny:** Hi Polly this is Basil’s friend Sunny. Just wanted to know if you had any plans tomorrow. Was hoping to surprise Basil.

 **Polly:** That would be so nice of you Sunny! Basil will be out for most of the day to get some extra fertilizer for a new plant that he just got but you’re more than welcome to come tonight at dinner time. I’m sure Basil would love to have you. He’s seemed pretty lonely the past few days since the last person to visit was Kel on Saturday

 **Sunny:** Great. I’ll see you guys tonight.

Sunny felt bad. It was Tuesday, meaning Basil hadn’t really seen anyone in almost 3 days. He had planned to visit Basil a few days ago, but Kel had noticed the plan by making him exercise all day. He hoped that wouldn’t be the case this time. At least not at a time around dinner time.

With all his messages checked, Sunny walked down the stairs for breakfast. Sunny must’ve woken up a lot earlier than usual because when he stepped into the dining room, Adelaide looked startled. “A-Ah! Look at you waking up early Sunny! How responsible of you!” she said, hiding something rectangular underneath the table. The sudden action of hiding the object nearly caused her cup of coffee to all off the table. 

Adelaide let out a sigh of relief. “Close one there eh? Let me go make your dinn-I-I mean breakfast!” She hastily got up and rushed into the kitchen. Her kind nature always made her a little cautious and careful to not say the wrong things, but she seemed like she was a completely different level of timid today.

Sunny subtly took a quick peek under the table and saw when Adelaide had made a horrible effort to hide from him. Was that Basil’s photo book? 

Not too long ago, Basil had given his photo book of all their childhood memories to Sunny as a gift. When he decided to stay in town, he put the book underneath his bed. What made Adelaide decide to take it? He didn’t really mind others looking at the photos (granted only if they didn’t have the intention to mess with any of the photos) but he wondered why she didn’t ask him.

He didn’t want to ask her himself out of fear that it would make her act even weirder, so he just dropped it and hoped that it would be back under his bed later that day when she was done with it.

When breakfast was ready, she sat back down at the table and glanced at him awkwardly, clearly starting to calm down at the thought that maybe he hadn’t seen the photo book. “So Sunny, I heard you were quite the violin player,” Sunny didn’t like where this was going. She must’ve looked into the photo book in order to find more about Sunny’s interests as a way to bring him out of his shell or something. “Do you still play?” She asked.

Sunny shook his head, hoping that would be the last time she mentioned the violin to him. Too many painful memories were connected to it.

Adelaide must’ve noticed the look on Sunny’s face so she quickly changed the subject. “That Kel person from a few days ago seemed quite nice! Do you have any other friends like him?”

Sunny nodded and answered. “kel’s one of my childhood friends. I have others too. kel’s older brother hero, aubrey, and my best friend basil.” Despite already knowing this information after snooping in the photo book Adelaide gave him a satisfied nod. “It’s always nice to have friends. It’s even nicer to stay in touch with them after so long… You’re a very lucky guy to have such nice friends Sunny.”

Sunny didn’t answer. The two of them finished their breakfast in silence and afterwards, he got up to go get ready. As he left he caught a glimpse of Adelaide not wasting a second to take the photo book back out and flip through the pages in pleasant awe.

**— —**

When Sunny left the house, he was met with cool breezes and thick clouds in the sky making the town look almost grey. He wondered if maybe he should’ve brought a jacket and an umbrella just in case, but he didn’t really feel like turning back now.

 _Where am I even going to go?_ He thought, _It’s only 11 AM so I have some time to kill._ He hadn’t been to Hobbeez in a bit so he figured that’s where he’d go.

As he strolled over to Faraway Plaza, he saw that understandably, no one was out in the park except for the hooligans. Angel and The Maverick were punching time air together while Charlie watched. Next to them, Aubrey was engaged in a conversation with Kim and Vance. They all looked busy, so Sunny decided not to bother them all and continued walking.

Eventually, he made it to Hobbeez and was met with the familiar scent of comics and plastic. The store was more crowded than usual today. Some were shopping as usual, but quite a few people were positioned around a table where the cards usually were. Sunny approached to watch them and saw that they were playing a game he didn’t recognize.

Suddenly he was tapped on the shoulder and turned to see the colorful blue haired girl that normally frequents the shop. “Hey cool eyepatch kid! Remember me? No? You beat my TomatoGirl in Pet Rocks last week... Still doesn’t ring a bell eh? Well no matter! You seem interested in that game of Smoker over there. You interested?”

Sunny had never heard of a game like that before “smoker?” “That’s right,” the girl answered, “Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing what it is. It’s brand new. Some kids came here from the city with it yesterday and now they’re teaching everyone how to play. It’s already gained traction over in Somora Town too I hear. Want me to teach you how to play?”

Sunny nodded, seeing this as a way to pass the time by. The girl smiled “Sweet! Alright follow me to this table over here. I already have a deck of my own so no need to worry!”

The two found an empty table and took a seat. Then the colorful girl rummaged around in her box and pulled out two separate decks of cards, one yellow, and one red before explaining the rules of the game. “Alright so there can be 4 players max --Unless you technically brought another deck-- but you can still play it with 2 people. Each player will get 1 meat card,” she handed him a card from a third, smaller deck in the game’s box that had the game’s logo on the back and had a picture of a meat on the bone on the front. Below the picture had the number 15. “The objective is to cook your meat before the opponent does. The number below the meat is the meat’s cooked level. Get the number too low (below 10 cookpoints) , then the game keeps on going. Get it too _high (_ over 10 cook points) and the meat gets over cooked and the game continues as well.”

After the explanation of the meat card, she drew a card from the yellow deck and handed it to Sunny. “Ok so this yellow deck that I just took the card from is known as a support deck. The red deck to the right of it is a sabotage deck.” Sunny looked down at the card he got from the support deck. It had a picture of a bonfire on it and below the image was the word _Bonfire_. To the left of the card’s name had a shield with the number 0 on it. That was self explanatory. The icon on the right side of the card had 3 squiggly lines with the number 4 on it. 

The colorful girl continued her explanation. “You see those little icons on both sides of that bonfire? The shield represents the card’s durability. The steam shows how fast the meat will get cooked. That bonfire can cook the meat at an alright speed, but it’s super weak. Even a simple breeze card could take it out. But don’t underestimate the card because of its weaknesses! If you’re lucky, you can find a card to fortify the cooking cards in the support deck. But enough about that, let’s go to the competitive part!” The girl turned her attention to the red deck with a smug grin on her freckled face.

She grabbed a red card and snickered before handing it to Sunny. “Well, I guess this card was a pretty bad example here but this one is a sabotage card from the red sabotage deck.” Sunny looked at the card and it read _Meat Slap_ underneath the picture of a figure getting a face full of raw meat. The card’s description read: _Removes 3 cook points from both your meat and an opponent of your choice_

“Of course this game wouldn’t be much of a race if it was as easy as ‘whoever gets to 10 first wins’. You can also slow down your opponents or even yourself if you find yourself going at a rate that’s less than desirable. Meat slap isn’t what you’d call a...powerful card, but there’s technically no such thing as a bad or useless card --except for... _the durg_ \-- but really they’re all about how you use them! Now then what else am I missing...oh! You can only have 7 cards on hand max so try and strategize before you end up being forced to use one card to draw another one. Now how about we play a real game? I’m sure you can figure out the rest on your own right?”

These rules were such an earful but Sunny thought he understood them good enough. He nodded and the girl took the campfire and the meat slap card before putting them in their respective decks and shuffling them. After that was said and done she told him “I’ll let you go first since you’re the newbie.” And so the game officially began. Sunny thought to himself, _Hmm… so the objective of the game is to get to 10 cook points first right? I guess that means logically, it’s best to pick a support card first._ He drew a card from the yellow deck and studied it. The card had an image of a pan and read _Fortify Card_ _:_ _Pan_ _Ability:_ _Adds 1 shield point and 3 steam points to your cooking card. Does not work with Sous Vide cooking card_

The girl nodded “Not bad, not bad, but you’re gonna need to have a cooking card to use that one. So for now, you’re stuck at square 1. Now it’s my turn!” Instead of reaching for a support card like Sunny, she grabbed a sabotage card. She looked at it, hiding it from Sunny’s view and beckoned for him to pick his next card. Sunny reached for another support card. The card was a campfire. Sunny placed the campfire underneath his meat card.

The girl chuckled and told him, “Interesting idea, kid! You decided to still draw a support card even after I grabbed a sabotage card. I’m sure most newbies would get intimidated and grab a sabotage card too! Don’t feel like you made a bad choice though. It’s all down to preference. Anyways, you put down the campfire card, meaning every turn, your meat will gain 4 cook points. However, now I have the chance to sabotage you before you even have a chance to get those points. I won’t though because you’re new.”

She grabbed a support card and then Sunny placed the pan card over the campfire card, giving it +1 shield points and +3 steam points. Sunny’s meat card was at 4 cook points, but if his pan remained during the next turn, he would be at 11. 1 point over. Maybe the real reason the girl didn’t sabotage him is because she knew he would go over and didn’t have any sabotage cards to bring himself back down. He looked up at her, noticing that she was still smiling at him mischievously. Then she placed the support card under her meat card. The card had a picture of a standard oven and read _Oven_. The shield points were a whopping 9 but it’s steam points were only 2.

“This is an interesting one,” the girl said, “It has some of the highest durability for a base cooking card, but the drawback is it’s slow cooking speed. This game may not be realistic but it _is_ fair.” Sunny decided to grab a sabotage card from the red deck. The picture on the card was of a cloud blowing out a strong gust of air. The card read  _Sabotage Card:_ _Strong Breeze_ _Ability:_ _Blows a powerful gust of wind and removes 4 shield points. Does not affect Oven or any cooking card that is reinforced with a structure type support card, unless the structure card is a_ _Tent card_ _or a_ _Tarp card_ _._

 _Fair my ass_ thought Sunny as he sat back in his chair, unable to make any other moves. His meat was now at 11 cook points, making it overcooked, while the girl’s meat was at 2. The girl grabbed a support card and immediately placed it down. The card featured a picture of a desert and was called _Hot Summer Day_ it had an infinite amount of shield points and had 1 steam point. The description read _Is unstoppable but can be countered with structure type support cards._ “a card with infinite durability?” Asked Sunny.

“Well,” said the girl, “It’s almost invincible. Emphasis on the _almost_. This card’s only counter would be to get a structure type card like a hut card or something and then use it on an opponent. Then it’s virtually useless. This card’s good if your opponents have bad draws.”

“so you can use support cards on opponents too?” Sunny inquired “Yep! Just like how you can use sabotage cards on yourself, you can use support cards on others. I’ve even seen some people make small alliances in this game. Pretty crazy right?” The girl said. _Did she really learn this in a day? Maybe I’m just slow._

Sunny thought as he drew his next card from the sabotage deck. Sunny chuckled at his good luck at his new card. The card was an image of a drippy liquid and the card read _Sabotage card:_ _Loogie_ _Ability:_ _Spits a disgusting loogie on an unfortunate person’s meat. It’s still edible right? Removes 1 cook point. Does not affect meat with an Oven cooking card or a Lid reinforcement card._ Sunny immediately placed the card on his meat, bringing his cook points to 10. Despite all odds, he had won!

The colorful girl’s face went from shock to a cheerful smile. “Woah that’s _some_ luck you’ve got there! And I was just getting started! How about another game? For real this time!” she said. Sunny and the girl played about 5 more intense games and a crowd had started to form around the two.

By the end, Sunny had won 4 games and the girl had won 1 game. Afterwards she stood up and shook Sunny’s hand, saying “You’re really good dude. Especially since you just started playing today! I fear that I might’ve woken up a sleeping dragon!” 

**— —**

Before Sunny left Hobbeez, he made sure to buy a box of the card game Smoker for himself since he felt like it was a thing that Kel would like. It was getting late and it was almost time for dinner at Basil’s. Before he’d go there, he decided to drop his bag from Hobbeez off at home since he didn’t feel like carrying it around if he didn’t have to.

While he walked home, the rain that was being held back by the overcast earlier that day started to drizzle lightly. Sunny made a mental note to grab the umbrella and jacket before he left this time.

When Sunny opened the door to his house, no one greeted him like usual. Not even Borfy seemed excited to see him at the entrance. He almost seemed...scared. As he walked through the house, it felt eerily quiet. Where was everyone? He walked up the stairs to go put his bag in his room when he heard it.

“HE’S A NICE KID, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS DAVID!?” Shouted a female’s voice. Probably Adelaide. Sunny flinched, not expecting to hear the friendly and kindhearted Adelaide yelling.

“You don’t know a damn thing about what you’re saying.” Replied his father.

“WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW? YOU LET HIM COME INTO THIS HOUSE AND YET YOU TREAT HIM LIKE HE’S NOT EVEN HERE! I SAW HIS PHOTOBOOK THIS MORNING! HE AND HIS FRIENDS ALL LOOKED SO HAPPY! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO ROB HIM OF THINGS LIKE THAT?”

“I let him back in the house because I love you Adelaide,” his father said. “I knew you wouldn’t understand if I said no so I let him stay because you would feel better. Can’t you see I’m trying to be nice for _you_ ? HUH!? CAN’T YOU!? CAN’T YOU SEE THAT EVERY SECOND I SPEND WITH THAT...THAT DEMON I SUFFER TOO?” “YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME BUT YOU DON’T ACT LIKE IT! EVERY TIME I TRY TO HELP YOU COPE WITH YOUR STRESS YOU JUST WITHDRAW! I _WANT_ TO HELP YOU! BUT YOU DON’T WANT ANY HELP DAMMIT!” Sunny could tell from the way Adelaide’s voice wavered that she was crying.

Did this happen every time that he was out? Was it a mistake to come home early?

Sunny started to reach for the doorknob but he felt a familiar hand catch it. It was Omori “ _Don’t,”_ he said. “ _It isn’t your place to interrupt. They’re probably doing this because they don’t know you’re home. Showing up will just make things worse.”_ Sunny felt an uncomfortable tingling sensation in his arm where Omori was grabbing him. Suddenly Omori whipped him around and shoved him into his room. It wasn’t his place to interrupt.

Sunny placed the bag on his bed and grabbed a jacked and an umbrella. As he walked back down the stairs, he heard his father and Adelaide still carrying on. “IF YOU KNEW WHAT THAT MONSTER DID, YOU’D BE JUST LIKE ME! HE DOESN’T BELONG IN THIS HOUSE!” yelled his father. “WELL OF COURSE I’M NOT GONNA KNOW DAVID! YOU REFUSE TO TELL ME! HOW CAN I FEEL THE SAME WAY IF I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MAD ABOUT?” retorted Adelaide. “AGAIN, I’M NOT TELLING YOU FOR YOUR SAKE! I DON’T WANT YOU TO LIVE IN FEAR IN EVERY NIGHT, KNOWING YOU’RE LIVING WITH A.. A MURDERER!” shouted his father. 

The last thing Sunny heard before he closed his front door was Adelaide’s shocked voice, “ _A what_?”

**— —**

When Sunny left his house, it was pouring outside. He opened the umbrella and started down towards Basil’s house. When he got there, the sun had gone all the way down and it was nearly pitch black outside. He knocked on the door and Polly opened it for him.

“Oh you’re finally here! Welcome! Come in.” Sunny walked in as Polly took his jacket “Basil! You have a visitor!” she called out, giving Sunny a friendly smile. Basil slowly made his way out into the living room and stopped when he saw him, his mouth agape. 

He ran over and threw his arms around Sunny. “Sunny! What are you doing here so soon?” He asked. “well actually,” Sunny replied, “i never ended up leaving. sorry for now being able to visit sooner.” Basil pulled away. “You never left? How come?” Sunny looked down. “my dad came back so i’ve been living with him.”

“O-oh I see!” said Basil. “Dinner’s ready for you two!” called Polly. “Coming!” shouted Basil. He turned back to Sunny. “Come on. We can keep talking over dinner.”

For dinner, the three had Lentil Soup. As Sunny gently sipped broth from his spoon, Basil started a conversation with him. “So Sunny, how do you feel about being able to stay in Faraway?” He inquired. “it’s fine i guess. it was a good chance to make up with everyone. especially hero and aubrey who were pretty...cagey about my confession.”

Basil smiled gently. “That’s good! I’m so glad everything was able to work out with everyone in the end. I haven’t had much of a chance to talk with everyone myself. It was a bit painful to move at times but I think I’m starting to feel better.”

Sunny nodded. Basil really was starting to look better compared to how he looked at the hospital. His black eye was still visible and there were some old cuts and bruises that hadn’t faded yet here and there but all in all he looked better, which relieved Sunny. Basil continued, “I was able to go out for the first time today. I was a little nervous that people might stare because of my face but no one really seemed to mind. I even managed to muster up the courage to apply for a job taking care of the flowers at Fix-It!”

“glad to hear it, basil.” Sunny said with a smile. “I’ve known for nearly all my life that I wanted to take care of plants and flowers and to have a career based around it makes me really happy, even if it is a small one.” 

Suddenly, Basil perked up, “Hey, I know we’re still eating, but would you like to see the new flowers that just came in today?” Sunny obliged and Basil hurried out of the kitchen.

“Thank you for doing this Sunny,” Polly said, “I haven’t seen Basil this happy in a long time. Things aren’t easy since his grandmother passed, but I still try and do what I can to make him feel better.”

Sunny watched as Basil entered the room holding a pot of purple flowers. “This flower is called the _Crocus Vernus_ , or the Spring Crocus. It may look pretty now but as the name suggests, generally flowers in the springtime, meaning that it can look even prettier one day!” He placed the pot on the table, careful to not let any dirt or leaves fall into the soup.

“The reason why I decided to get this flower is because it represents...forgiveness! Some people even call it the ‘penitent’s rose’ for this reason. It can be a great symbol for the soul, which may bloom as wrongdoings are forgiven. I figured it’d be a good way to start anew after what’s happened recently. Maybe if we have hope, things can be just as good as they were before. Mari...she’s definitely watching over us Sunny! I just know it.”

The sight of Basil being ready to finally find peace after what they had done was heartwarming to say the least. Maybe Sunny was the only one that still felt like he hadn’t fully made up for what he had done. Would he ever find true peace in the end?

His train of thought was interrupted by Basil’s next topic. “So Sunny, I see Aubrey wrote on your eyepatch,” Basil’s face became slightly smug as he spoke, “What’s that about?” Sunny’s face got warm. It made his soup feel even hotter. “w-well...me and aubrey...are going out now…”

Sunny couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. He wondered how Basil would feel about his best friend starting a relationship with his other friend that used to bully him.

Instead, Basil just looked supportive as usual. “How sweet! I’m happy to see you two still had a spark for each other after all these years. No matter what happens, she’s still Aubrey after all. You don’t think she’d mind if I signed your eyepatch too would she?” “i’m sure she’d understand.” said Sunny, nodding at Basil.

Basil grabbed a pen and started to write on the eyepatch. After he was finished he sat back down and said “All done!” Sunny took the eyepatch off and read Basil’s message. It read: _To my best friend, now and forever - Basil_

Sunny felt so flattered. Did he really deserve such nice friends? A guy like him? He wasn’t sure, but he was forever grateful to have them in his life. Basil, Kel, Aubrey, and Hero. He couldn’t imagine a life without them all by his side. 

**— —**

After dinner Sunny and Basil chatted for a while and then Polly gave him a ride home, refusing to let him walk alone in the pouring rain. As they rode, Sunny thought about one of the topics him and Basil talked about earlier.

“We’re getting older, aren’t we Sunny? Your birthday will be coming up pretty soon too! Have you thought about what you want to do? You know, career-wise?” Sunny shook his head.

“Well think about this,” Basil started, “I love flowers, so naturally I jumped at the first chance I could get at that job at Fix-It and one day, if I ever find another job in the field of Botany...or maybe nature photography, I’ll jump at those too! That’s because it’s what I know _myself_ best for. Some people may tell you to get a job because it pays well or it has benefits, but that’s not always a lot of fun is it? You deserve a job that’s based around what you enjoy the most! What is it that you think you’re the best at Sunny?”

He thought back to Adelaide’s words, _“if there’s ever a career based around what you enjoy passing time with the most, you should totally consider looking into a career based around it. A good job is never really a job”_ When Sunny got home, neither his father or Adelaide were there.

The car wasn’t in the driveway so he should’ve expected it. Where were they this late at night? It didn’t really matter to him though. As he walked up to his room, Borfy followed him. He must’ve been lonely. Sunny understood that feeling so he allowed him to jump onto his bed and fall asleep. 

Sunny couldn’t sleep though. His mind was fully active. A career based solely on his strengths? What was he even good at? His friends always told him he was good at the violin, but he wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to pick another one up after what happened to Mari.

What else was he good at? What was good about him? Sunny wasn’t sure. Maybe if he slept on it, he’d be more sound of mind and be able to think more clearly.

 _Sleep on it… sleep_. Sunny had an epiphany. He may not have had much physical talent but there was one thing that he was so good at, he was able to keep himself busy with it for four long years. 

Sunny took out several sheets of paper and a pencil and began to write. The first words on the paper were more familiar to him than he would’ve liked to admit. _Welcome to Whitespace. You’ve been living here for as long as you can remember._

##  _End Of Act 2_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I created an entire card game when writing this chapter. I took ages to finish when I was originally writing it. Anyways. I hope you all enjoyed Act 2! Thanks for reading!


	11. Act 3: Rivalry Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks after Act 2, the construction next to Faraway Park is finished. A battle begins to brew.

**Aubrey > > > Sunny**

**Friday 1:43 PM**

**Aubrey:** Sunny

 **Aubrey:** Can you do me a favor today?

 **Aubrey:** Stay inside

 **Sunny:** Stay in? Why?

 **Aubrey:** Just trust me here. Make sure to tell the others. I might not have enough time to.

 **Sunny:** Are you ok? Sounds like something’s wrong.

 **Aubrey:** I’ll be fine. I’ll call you later. Love you <3

Two weeks had passed since the day Sunny began writing. He had become so absorbed in making his comic series, that he hadn’t had much time to go out. The feeling was almost nostalgic. Despite presumably learning the truth about Sunny, Adelaide didn’t act much different around him. However, her subtle nervous tinges and heightened withdrawal suggested that it might’ve been a facade. 

In truth, she was probably afraid of him. As much as she talked, Sunny didn't actually know that much about her either, but whatever she'd been through in her life clearly made her an expert at hiding her true feelings. Only being nice to Sunny because it was in her nature and she possibly feared any potential consequences that might come from addressing her concerns to him. Omori was able to keep his thoughts on track and assisted him with recalling various details from the escapades in Headspace.

Sunny stared at Aubrey’s frantic messages. What was wrong? Was there anything he could do about it without getting in her way? Maybe there was actually…

**Sunny > > > Hero**

**Friday 1:47 PM**

**Sunny:** Hi Hero

 **Hero:** Sunny! What a surprise to hear from you like this. What’s up?

 **Sunny:** Aubrey wanted me to pass on a message to not leave our houses. I thought I’d tell you because you wouldn’t ask as many questions as Kel. Please pass it on to whoever you can.

 **Hero:** Got it. I think I know what this is about. I’ll tell Kel okay? Stay safe.

Hero felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. He looked across the room. Kel was still sound asleep in his bed. He normally slept past noon, so it wasn’t much of a surprise. He could tell Kel later.

He hastily left the room to see if Sally was alright. Was it really okay to just let things play out again? He recalled the near defeat that the hooligans had last year and wondered if Aubrey would really be safe with them all just leaving her and the hooligans alone. _Is it really okay?_ He thought. _We can’t just...wait around for the low chance that something goes wrong can we? Am I doing the right thing by just staying here to make sure my family’s alright? They’re my family too._

**Sunny > > > Polly**

**Friday 1:49 PM**

**Sunny:** Hi Polly can you tell Basil to not leave the house today? Passing on a message from Aubrey

 **Polly:** So it’s that time of year again huh?

 **Polly:** I’ll let Basil know. Thank you.

It seemed like just about everyone knew what was happening except Sunny. His curiosity was becoming intense. What was everyone hiding from?

**— —**

The clouds were darker than yesterday and the air was cool as the hooligans stood on the sidewalk, ready for whatever came at them. Aubrey’s grip tightened around her bat as a collection of silhouettes slowly and menacingly made their way over to them. Eventually the silhouettes morphed into 8 people. The Somora Town gang.

As expected, they were back. “Back for more eh?” Aubrey called out, “You think you’d have learned your lessons after the last 3 years.”

“Well guess what?” Shouted a thin boy with long brown hair and a leather jacket. “We’re like cockroaches. We just keep coming back!”

“Nice job calling yourself insect ya dingus!” Yelled The Maverick. Angel gave him a fist bump.

“Tch! Joke all you want,” the boy said, “This time, we’ve got something that’ll really knock your socks off. A good strategy can _always_ turn the tides of battle.”

The group finally reached them and stopped in front of the hooligans. A shame that they were just outside of batting range, even though Aubrey never actually used the bat as anything more than an intimidation tactic. Thankfully, it usually worked pretty well except for when Sunny ended up using a knife on her after seeing her attack Kel.

The boy with the long brown hair was named Derek. He was third in command in the Somora Town gang. He had a knack for causing problems for the group but was only allowed to stay in their group either because they found him entertaining, or the few times he ever did things right for them, it usually benefitted them greatly. 

Next to Derek was a burly boy with shaved blonde hair and a small yellow shirt (or at least Aubrey hoped it was yellow. It wouldn’t surprise her if it was just dirty) from some band in Germany or something. His name was Erickson. He was an appallingly sloppy and disgusting country boy who only acted seriously when food was involved but was an absolute tank, which normally resulted in the gang using him as a human shield or a tank.

Behind them was a small girl with short black hair, a black hoodie, and round glasses wearing headphones named Miki. She was a logical girl despite the group that she hung out with. While she never actually got into any fights herself, she tended to stay back and come up with strategies for the gang.

The few times she ended up in a physical confrontation, it involved her running away and throwing the closest objects she had nearby, so needless to say it was probably her best move to stay away from the action. She was actually cousins with a local artist girl in Faraway Town named Mincy. Mincy was more of Kel and Sunny’s friend but Aubrey could tell her and Miki were related with a single look due to how scarily similar they looked.

Along with them was an extremely buff girl named Rozka with long blonde braided pigtails that ran all the way down her muscular back. She was a foreign exchange student from some country with a super long name that Aubrey didn’t care enough to remember. Her blonde hair was similar in style to Kim’s and her extremely ripped build frequently causes many people to mistake her for a bodybuilding man.

Surprisingly, she doesn’t seem to take any offense to the mistakes. Aubrey couldn’t help but feel bad for her every once in a while because she had a foreign ignorance that made it obvious that she didn’t know what she was doing was wrong.

Beside Rozka was a cheery and athletic boy named Joel. He wore a grey tracksuit despite it making him look even dorkier and had spiky hair that was dyed red. He was especially annoying to everyone that was unfortunate enough to be around him because he was so peppy and jovial that even hearing his annoying laugh would make you want to tear your own hair out. Aubrey feared the idea of a day where Joel comes face to face with Kel. 

In the very back stood a dark skinned boy with a flat top and dark-rimmed glasses named Andre. He was the official second in command of the Somora Town gang and never spoke to anyone but their leader. With how mysterious he was, it was almost scary how much he reminded her of Sunny. He stood in the far back with a gaze that could’ve burned a hole right through the hooligans.

In front of Andre sat a twitchy boy with hands covered almost entirely in scars and wearing a black and white striped sweater with a hood zipped completely over his face. His name was Leon and no one had actually seen his face. 

Probably his most notable trait was how insane he was. There were even rumors that were spread that he was the only member of the Somora Town Gang to actually kill someone, which normally would’ve surprised Aubrey if her own boyfriend hadn’t accidentally done the same. Even so, it was a miracle that the gang was comfortable enough to even be near him.

He crouched on the ground breathing loudly and messily out of his mouth, drool slowly dripping out through the mesh in his zipped up hoodie.

Finally, there was also a timid looking boy, visibly shaking with fear in the far back behind Andre named Victor. He wore a sweater vest and a scarf despite it being Summer and his hair was impressive and stylish, almost rivaling Angel’s pompadour. He was clearly deathly afraid of both groups and only followed the Somora Town Gang out of fear.

Another possible reason for sticking with the gang was his obvious crush on Kim. The gang’s leader and the 9th member, Jason was nowhere in sight.

Aubrey pointed her bat in the direction of Derek and said, “Where’s your backstabbing leader? Did he get cold feet?” Derek chuckled, “He’s home sick with food poisoni-” suddenly Leon interjected loudly from the back, “DIARRHEA! THE LIQUID SHITS EVERYWHERE HEHEHEH!” Derek ignored Leon’s vulgar interruption, clearly used to it at this point and continued, “He told us to go on without him. We knew we had a chance because we outnumber you guys now.”

“So what? That didn’t stop us from beating you fools to a pulp last year? Why do you guys insist on coming back? You can’t be that stupid are you?” said Kim. 

Derek, started to walk forward, saying “I’ll show you stupid, punks!” The hooligans prepared for action before Miki stopped them all, pushing through the crowd towards Aubrey. Knowing her non-confrontational nature, Aubrey didn’t need to be scared of whatever she was up to, but she was still wary of the possibility that whatever she had to say might be a trap. 

“Aubrey! How’s it going? We don’t want any trouble right now. Especially since Jason isn’t here right now. Can’t you just let us pass? I’m telling you, we have no ill will towards you guys right now. We’ll even give you guys a cut! Kim and Vance. We know how much you two love candy. If you just let us pass, you’ll get enough candy to last the whole rest of the year. Promise.” she shot them a nervous smile.

Aubrey swung her bat in Miki’s direction, causing her to jump back. “Stay back if you value your teeth.” she threatened. 

“Fat chance, idiot! You think we’re falling for that one again. We know how you guys operate!” shouted Kim.

Erickson stepped forward. “Only a fool would turn down the offer for free candy! Y’all are just gonna have to starve then!” Aubrey could smell the stench of rotten eggs and some kind of seafood on his breath. She shoved him away and spat on the ground. “No means no fatso! Now are we just gonna keep on with this back and forth or...” she punched her palm with her hand and gave an intimidating grin. “Are we gonna have to show you who’s boss yet again?”

Miki gritted her teeth. “You bit-” suddenly she stopped talking and stood still with a distant look.

Unbeknownst to the others, Miki had caught a glimpse of a nosy kid peeking at the commotion from around the corner of the street. He was thin and wore a sweater vest and white eyepatch.

Who was that? Miki knew it was a terrible idea getting distracted in front of the gang’s enemies but she couldn’t help but feel an intense curiosity. “ _Pssh!_ W-whatever! You’ll get what’s coming to you this time.” Miki muttered, sinking back into the crowd.

“ _What was that about?_ ” Victor whispered to her. “ _I’m gonna go check something out. If anyone asks, I had to piss.”_ She replied sneaking off undetected. “If it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you'll get.” Said Derek. “Since Jason isn’t here today, how about we make this quick? You send one of your guys, I send one of mine. I win, you let us pass and we’ll go about our...business uninterrupted. How about that?”

Aubrey cackled “Haha! You’re on! You must be really stupid to think you can get any of us!” Derek smiled. “You’re the stupid ones for underestimating us! We’ve gotten way stronger since last year.” He snapped his fingers, “Joel! Show them what you’re made of!” Joel, who had obviously only just started paying attention smirked and stepped forward.

Aubrey sighed. “Charlie! You’re up.” Charlene nodded and scooted forward, dwarfing the athletic kid in size. “You’re a real piece of work picking someone before us. This’ll be quick.” said Aubrey.

Both groups stepped back, giving the two room. Joel shot forward and sent a flying kick at Charlene who remained unmoving. “As you can see,” he said confidently, “I’m way faster now!” The kick slammed into Charlene’s side with a _Thud!_ sound.

Charlene winced slightly and casually shoved Joel back. Joel fell on his backside but quickly recovered, this time shooting a flurry of punches towards her. Charlene stopped him with one hand and delivered a hard slap to the side of his face _SMACK!!!_ The sound reverberated through the whole block, startling even Sunny who was still watching from afar. Joel fell flat on his back and this time, he didn’t get up.

Kim cackled at the sad and amusing sight before them. “GAHAHAHAHA! I ALMOST FEEL BAD FOR YOU!” Charlene lightly tapped Joel with her foot, checking to see if he was alright. The boy had a giant red welt on the left side of his face and his eyes were rolled back into his head. He twitched and made a gurgling noise when Charlene tapped him.

The Somora Town Gang each shared looks of both embarrassment and shame. Even the stoic and mysterious Andre couldn’t help but break a sweat at the humiliating loss. “That all you got?” Asked the unamused Aubrey. “...er...um...well…” Derek stammered, looking for a witty retort to save their damaged egos. 

Eventually he realized that there was nothing any of them could say to recover so he and the others turned and walked away, defeated with Rozka hauling Leon’s limp body over her shoulder.

“We’ll be back later!” Derek called behind him “Just wait until our leader gets better! Then the real fun will start!” Angel jumped to the front of the group “Why don’t you tell Jason to get a load of this!” He then proceeded to pull down his pants, exposing his bare bottom to the defeated enemy and slapping it mockingly. “Angel that’s gross,” said Aubrey, “Stop that.” 

“That was kinda easy, amirite guys?” Angel asked, pulling his pants back up. “Yeah,” replied Kim, “Almost too easy…” Vance turned to her and asked “Should we send someone to follow them? Y’know, just in case?”

“Nah. Let ‘em go. They’re actually leaving on their own for once. Besides, all that candy talk’s making me crave some taffy. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” As they walked away Aubrey was lost in thought. _Too easy huh? Hmm..._

**— —**

As the Somora Town gang walked away from Faraway “defeated”, Erickson turned to the others and asked “Think they bought it?”

Derek punched him in the shoulder “You think I know? I sure hope so, otherwise we just gave Joel another concussion for nothing.”

Joel stirred on Rozka’s shoulder “Is it over already? Also ow.”

Rozka dropped him off her shoulder onto his face, assuming he could still walk. Luckily Joel was both stupid and durable so he would recover from damage pretty fast. He got up and quickly caught up with the others. “Man, that sucked! I wanted to face off against The Maverick! I created the blue dragon style specifically to counter him!” He whined.

“There you go again with that Maverick spiel. Shouldn’t you worry about more than just him?” Derek retorted. “No way man! That guy’s potential is _off the charts!_ I’ve gotta beat him if I’m gonna get stronger!” Everyone rolled their eyes in response to Joel’s idiotic speech. “S-so what’s n-next?” Victor asked.

“What? Speak up!” Erickson shouted “ _Eeek!_ I-I’m sorry!” Victor stammer out, cowering behind the sloppy boy. 

“HE SAID WORK THOSE CORDS, BROTHA!” Leon exclaimed, crawling behind them like some sort of animal.

“I-I ASKED WHAT’S THE NEXT PART OF THE PLAN!” Victor squeaked out.

“Dunno,” Derek replied. “This whole shebang is Miki’s idea. Now that I think about it, where is she?”

“She said she…” Victor had been so stressed out, he almost forgot what Miki told him before she left. “Umm...she had t-to go p-poop I think?”

“Ok that’s BS,” replied Derek, “Everyone knows girls don’t poop, idiot.” “Y-yes sir!” Rozka tilted her head in bewilderment “Females do not poop in country?” she started sweating. “Do I go to jail now?” 

Derek, Joel, and Erickson stifled their giggles. “Oh dude you’re in big trouble now!” Joel joked.

Rozka’s face melted to pure horror as if she had just killed someone. “ _Don’t worry. They’re just messing with you._ ” Victor whispered to her. Her face calmed back down. 

“Anyways,” said Derek, “Doesn’t matter anyways. Miki’s not dumb. She wouldn’t wander off without a good reason. Especially not on her own plan. Let’s just sit tight and play the waiting game for now.”

**— —**

_What just happened?_ wondered Sunny as he watched the hooligans left the scene on their scooters in the direction of Faraway plaza -- probably to Gino’s to celebrate-- one by one until only Aubrey remained, lost in thought. “You coming!?” Kim called out to her, snapping Aubrey out of her stupor. “C-Coming!” She called back, getting on her bike and racing off to join the others.

As she rode off, she turned her head and finally noticed a puzzled Sunny standing across the street. Her face turned into a concerned surprise, but she didn’t stop moving. Sunny would probably hear from her later to chew him out for not staying inside like she asked.

Sunny’s train of thought was interrupted by a “ _ahem!_ ” coming from behind him. Sunny turned around to see the small girl with the hoodie and headphones standing behind him.

“ah!” Sunny started to back up, but tripped and fell on his behind. Wasn’t this one of those delinquents that the hooligans were fighting against? Did they all manage to see him hiding? Was she the thing that scared Aubrey so much while she was riding back? 

Sunny turned his head to see Omori seated on the curb of the sidewalk across the street. Miki took a step towards him. Sunny backed away from her. “Hey there~.” She said, taking another step. “Whatcha doing out here all sneaky and stuff?”

She noticed the fear in Sunny’s eye and frowned. “No need to be scared. The name’s Miki. I’m here on my own terms for now.”

Sunny did his usual method of closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm himself down “why? what do you want from me?” he asked.

Miki smiled “Wow! Such a sudden mood change! You kinda give off those Andre vibes, but at the same time...you feel...different...what I’m trying to say is, you intrigue me eyepatch kid. It's a weird feeling, ya dig?”

Sunny had no idea what she was talking about. He focused intently on her words, hoping to gain any semblance of context clues. He repeated his question from before. “what do you want from me?” She got down on her hands and knees and crept closer to him.

Sunny could see her blushing. “Just wanted a closer look at you that’s all. You look like just.my.type~” she winked at him.

Sunny broke into a cold sweat. He felt strange and uncomfortable. “well...um...i have...um…”

Miki frowned. She had finally seen the scribbles on his eyepatch (which had faded a bit due to being put in the washing machine), specifically the message from Aubrey: _To us_ ♡ _-Aubrey_ “You and...Aubrey?”

She looked annoyed, despite the two only having met about two minutes ago. “I...didn’t expect such an...unorthodox pairing.”

Her face fell, but then after a few awkward seconds, she looked back up with a determined look in her eyes “Well! It’s not like she doesn’t already hate me! She doesn’t have to know does she? What do you say?” 

Sunny tried to back away more, but at this point she was basically on him “please...i...no-“ before Sunny had the chance to break it to her that he wasn’t interested, a _Thud!_ sound was made as a basketball went hurtling onto the back of her head.

Miki’s glasses flew off her face and she fell forward onto Sunny, who pushed her off and scrambled to his feet. Sunny looked up to see Kel and Hero rushing in their direction.

“Get away from him, you weirdo!” Kel yelled at her. Miki rolled over and put her glasses on, staring daggers at the brothers “Mincy!? What are you doing!?” Kel exclaimed. “UGH! I AM NOT MINCY! I’M BETTER THAN HER! I’M MIKI!!!” Miki yelled angrily.

“Really? You look so similar! Are you guys related or something?” Kel asked innocently. Miki stood up and brushed herself off, her face turning red from embarrassment and anger “What’s it to you!? I was just trying to have a little fun and you guys ruined it!” 

Miki backed off yelling various obscenities at the boys. “Hope you’re happy now! Now the gang knows about you three! Watch your backs!” she ran away, tripping an embarrassing number of times before she finally rounded the corner.

Miki chastised herself internally. To think they knew her cousin Mincy. She wasn’t used to making rash decisions like that and it obviously backfired as what would expectantly happen to someone that normally made such decisions, but that boy with the eyepatch awakened something inside her that she always tried to ignore.

She made a mental note to continue trying to learn more about him as she ran away.

Kel and Hero finally reached Sunny and comforted him. “Are you alright Sunny?” Hero asked, “We saw you leaving your house and followed you outside.” Sunny nodded “Dude, what just happened?” Kel asked him. Sunny shrugged “i have no idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! This act is a lot more action based so if you're into that you'll probably enjoy this all. I woke up this morning and saw how much attention this fic got before I had even fully finished transferring the whole fic (so far) to AO3 and I thank you all so much! This is the final chapter that I'm transferring over, meaning from now on I will be posting everything to AO3 as I write it. I hope you keep reading!


	12. Act 3: Rivalry Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aubrey explains the beef between The Hooligans and the Somora Town gang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys fun fact, did you know that Somora Town was the original name for Faraway town in the old Omori Demos? The more you know! Also for those that have been worried about my health due to the sheer number of chapters I released in the span of a day or so, this is the first chapter I have written in about a week and a half. The previous ones were just a matter of copying and pasting my work from a Google doc over here. Please enjoy this chapter!

Later that day at Ginos, everyone sat together enjoying their well earned late lunches. “And then, I smacked her in the head with a basketball!” shouted Kel, who had decided to explain the incident instead of Sunny. “Then she ran away squealing some kind of gibberish or something. It was kinda funny honestly.” 

Aubrey, who had remained uncomfortably calm while listening to the story smirked and chuckled quietly. “What's so funny? Aren’t you angry?” Kel asked. “Ah,” started Aubrey. “Well, I was just trying to imagine what shelf I want to put that little elf’s skull on the next time I see her. We’ll talk about this later won’t we Sunny?” The boys broke into a sweat, nervous after her unusually passive aggressive response.   
  


“So anyways,” Aubrey asked Sunny, taking a sip from her strawberry milkshake, “You ignored my warning, watched everything go down, and then got attacked? Pretty ballsy for someone like you, I’ve gotta admit. It was already embarrassing enough that Kel had to save you.” She chuckled.

“Hey!” exclaimed Kel.

“sorry.” muttered Sunny. Aubrey smirked at him. “So, what’d you think? Pretty embarrassing wasn’t it?”

Sunny pursed his lips, deep in thought. “seems like you all know each other pretty well. Who were they? what’s the story between you guys?”

“Oh that’s right you don’t know them. It all started three years ago so it wasn’t too long after...the Mari incident.” A few seconds of silence rang between the group for a few seconds.

“Our group had just started to rise up a bit after a year of doing what we do. Hey Sunny, do you remember Jason Patron?”

Sunny flinched at the sound of that name. How could he ever forget? Jason Patron was a former classmate of theirs back when Sunny went to school. He bullied him for a short while until Mari caught wind of it and had a 1 on 1 conversation with him. Jason never picked on Sunny again after that.

He never really paid much attention to him after that but he remembered him enough that he was incorporated into headspace as the rhino bully character Boss.

Hero cut in. “Jason Patron. He was a strange character. Since Mari and I were above your grade we didn’t know him personally but his story was one that was pretty hard to forget. He was known throughout most of the school as the Human Vending Machine because he would sell just about anything that a kid that age would want as long as the buyer could afford it. I even heard it got big enough to where he would start selling favors in addition to items.”

“Oh wait I know that guy!” said Kel. “I think I bought some bubblegum from him for like 5 bucks!”

“Anyone can sell you bubblegum, stupid!” Aubrey shot back.

“H-hang on shouldn’t we be more concerned that he paid $5 for gum?” Hero said.

“What’s wrong with that? I got the gum didn’t I so it’s not like I got ripped off!” Kel said defensively.

Aubrey sighed, failing to be surprised by Kel’s lack of intelligence in both the past and the present. “Anyways… What Hero said was pretty accurate. The man was pretty useful all things considered, so he fit right in our gang. He’d supply us with stuff so we didn’t even need to get our hands dirty to do whatever we wanted, and his intelligence was unmatched. Unfortunately for him, he got kicked out of school when the administration found out he was selling more than just candy and favors. Despite that setback, he never stopped doing stuff for our group even when his family moved away to Somora Town. That is until three years ago…” 

Everyone leaned in with anticipation. “Jason contacted us, telling us he found a cool new way to get more free stuff and to let him do what he did best. We trusted the bastard and you know what happened? Him and his _new_ gang that he formed without telling us, which was less than half the size that it is now came in and wrecked the entire town! This was all a ruse to make us let our guard down. Made us realize that the way he was able to get all the free stuff he supplied us was by single handedly doing the reverse to Somora Town. But now that he _lived_ in Somora Town, he was forced to do the same thing but to Faraway instead. And he brought extras with him to be even more petty!”

“It was horrible,” Hero said. “They vandalized everything they could get their hands on. They almost even reached the church before the cops got called. I don’t know what I would’ve done if they touched Mari’s grave.”

Everyone at the table grew silent, now that the possibility was in the air.

“We thought it was over but sure enough they came back two years ago to do it again. But this time we fought back.” Aubrey said. “why didn’t you call the police?” Sunny asked.

“You think they didn’t try that? The cops are never enough. They’re far too incompetent to deal with stuff like that. The fact that _we’re_ able to run around doing whatever we want nowadays should be proof of that.

The people all whisper and mutter about their disapproval but they don’t do Jack about it. That’s why it’s up to us to make sure they don’t ruin our home again every summer. They grow in number every time but time and time again we manage to win. I still wonder if one day, they’ll end up being too much for us to handle.”

Sunny frowned. “if everyone knows they come every summer, why don’t they just try to subvert expectations and...pick a different season?”

Everyone’s face grew dead serious.“Like...winter?” asked Aubrey. “Because everyone knows you should _never_ invade Faraway in winter.”

“Yeah Sunny even _I_ know that!” said Kel.

Hero shook his head. “I thought it was common knowledge but since you didn't know Sunny, it’s a horrible idea to invade Faraway in winter.”

Sunny put his hands up in defeat. “i guess i’m still out of the loop then.”

Aubrey looked down, her face shrouded in shadows. “Anyways. Just keep this in mind. Plumbers, Garbage men, Construction workers, stuff like that. You think anyone like that actually _likes_ their job? Aside from the obvious things like money, the reason lots of people end up in those fields, despite how sucky the jobs are is because they’re needed. People may pay no attention to them and some may even look down on them, but even so, people do it because without them, the world just won’t function as well. The townsfolk may hate us and they can say whatever they want about us, but this is our home too. What kind of insane person just lies down and lets people ruin their livelihoods like that. If others don’t want to fight back, we will.”

Kel wiped a tear from his eye and started clapping, which drew the attention of everyone sitting in the restaurant.

“Aubrey,” Hero said, shooting a charming smile at the others. “That was a pretty impressive speech there. It was inspiring even. I’m sure Kel and Sunny are with me in this one but since you’re our friend, we want to help you.” Aubrey raised her eyebrows in surprise “You said it yourself. They keep growing in number and it might end up being too much for even you to handle. If you let us at least help you, we can try to put a stop to this madness. Right?”

“Yeah!” said Kel “Every time I leave the house when they show up, they throw water balloons filled with pebbles at us! I don’t wanna be paranoid of stuff like that anymore! Let’s end this!”

Aubrey smiled, tears starting to well up in her eyes. “You guys...are such great friends!”

**— —**

Sunset in Faraway Park was beautiful. With all the excitement that took place today, finding peace and watching the sky dim was something Sunny felt he needed. He and Aubrey sat together on the swing set in silence. Finally, Aubrey turned her head to him and asked “Are you ok after what happened today?”

Sunny nodded “it caught me off guard but i think i’m fine.” Aubrey’s face melted into frustration and she stood up “Who does she think she is huh!? That’s not even something she’d do! Isn’t she supposed to be the smart one!? Well, I’ll tell you what Sunny. When the smartest one in the group makes one of the stupidest decisions of her life, she’ll _really see how scary I can be_!”

She grabbed her bat and started smacking it against a nearby tree. Sunny flinched. He’d seen it so much this past month, but seeing Aubrey angry scared him. “DAMN THAT MIKI! TAKE THIS! AND THAT!” 

Aubrey’s angry tantrum was interrupted by a soft voice behind them “U-um did you just say Miki?”

The two turned around to see Mincy standing anxiously standing behind them holding her usual drawing pad. “Sorry to interrupt whatever was going on but you two looked so peaceful on the swings I just had to draw you!” She turned her drawing pad around to show an impressive drawing of Aubrey and Sunny holding hands on the swings.

Sunny smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Mincy continued, “But then I heard you mention my cousin and I got a bit worried. Did she do something bad again?”

“You two are cousins?” Aubrey inquired. “I guess it makes sense. You two look pretty similar. But Miki would never do something cool like _that_ . I guess looks are where the similarities end. And to answer your question **hell yes she did**! She tried to steal Sunny away!” 

Tears welled up in Mincy’s eyes. She took her glasses off to wipe them away then after putting them back on, she bent down on her hands and knees and said, “Please accept my apology on her behalf! She does the things that she does because she has been misled! We used to spend a lot of time together in elementary school and she was the same way. Ever since she was a kid she would get jealous of others giving me attention due to my art and she would frequently lash out at others because of it. Eventually she started to hang with the wrong crowds because they recognized her talents better than anyone at school or home in her eyes. And for that, I feel responsible for the bad things she does because I was never there for her. I never told her ‘Miki! You have talent too! Possibly even more than me! Just believe in yourself okay?’ And for that, I apologize!”

As much as Aubrey hated the chick’s guts, Mincy was really trying hard to make up for something this was never her fault. What’s even sadder, is that Aubrey could also relate to Miki in that front. She felt abandoned too and it caused her to become who she was today, but unlike Aubrey, Miki never had anyone to come back for her in the end. She had no one to think of the good times with. Her jealousy and anger had roots even deeper than Aubrey’s in its own way. She still wanted to break her face though, but after thinking it through, maybe heavily bruising it might just be the way to go.

Before she could respond to Mincy’s apology, Sunny cut in, surprisingly. “Don’t apologize! It’s not your fault. mincy you have a lot of talent and you have your own business to worry about too. and as for miki, don’t worry,” Sunny looked at Aubrey with a smile. “we’ll make sure she never causes any trouble here again.” Mincy stood up, wiping her snotty nose “R-really? As long as she can see the error of her ways it’s fine! If it’s for my family, I’ll do anything to help you guys! If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to give me a call!”

She ripped the drawing out of her scrapbook and handed it to Sunny. “Have this as a thank you.” Sunny took the paper. “b-but what about your portfolio?”

Mincy smiled. “Don’t worry! I have plenty of other drawings! And besides, I can’t stop here. I’m gonna keep drawing and getting even better ok?” She gave the two a hug and strolled off down the street as the sun finally went down, bathing the park in moonlight.

Aubrey turned back to Sunny. “It’s getting late huh? Be sure to get some rest ok? Shoot me a message or call if you need me.” She gave Sunny a quick peck in the cheek before riding off on her bicycle.

**— —**

And now for the moment, Sunny had grown to dread every day. He finally reached his front door and opened it. The house was pitch black. The car was in the driveway and it wasn’t that late so it was pretty unusual that all the lights would be off. Sunny felt two little paws on his leg.

Borfy was greeting him so it’s good to know there was no yelling like two weeks ago. Maybe he was hungry. He turned on the light in the kitchen to see the status of his food bowl. It was full and so was his water. Borfy tapped him again and ran to the sliding glass door at the back of their living room.

Sunny looked up and saw Omori staring at him through the glass, slowly motioning for him to come. His heart sank. Going to that door never felt the same ever since that day, but even so, he knew whatever he was being led to. 

He opened the door and witnessed a sight he would never have expected to see. Adelaide was crouched over by herself in the grass, sobbing intensely. Was that a knife she was holding?

This sight was all too familiar to him. _“Go to her! Do what must be done! Don’t let any more blood end up on your hands!”_ Omori shouted at him.

Sunny broke into a sprint “Stop! Adelaide please don’t do this!” The knife lowered and Adelaide looked up at him. Instead of attempting to hide herself in more cheery facades, Adelaide looked at him, her eyes shrouded in despair and fear.

She looked almost older with the amount of stress laid across her face. Sunny could immediately tell that whatever it was that caused her to do this was almost as bad as his situation. Just what had she been hiding from him these past few weeks?

Sunny finally caught up to her and grabbed the knife, throwing it away from them. He tried to speak but his voice wouldn’t work. He was afraid and out of breath. Adelaide turned to him, tears steaming from her eyes “ _Sunny… your sister...did you… really...murder...her?”_


	13. Act 3:Rivalry Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny learns of a burden in Adelaide’s past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter so I figured I’d post it a little earlier. It’s also pretty heavy so consider this to be your warning. Thank you for the support.

Silence. It lasted for what seemed like forever. Sunny fought to catch his breath. What did Adelaide just ask her? _“Sunny… your sister...did you… really...murder...her?”_

Of course this was bound to happen. He could practically see the timer ticking down every day before the facade would melt away and the question would be asked. The past few weeks, Adelaide had been right there to comfort and support him. She would go where his father refused to. What could cause such a person to care so much for a kid she had met nearly a month ago.

Had it really been that long? It had felt like Sunny had known her for years. There were even days where he almost felt that she was acting in Mari’s place. _“No more running,”_ said Omori _“Isn’t that what you decided?”_ Sunny took a deep breath. “Yes. I...killed Mari…”

Adelaide’s expression melted to pure horror. She had expected him to avoid the question, get defensive, or even outright deny it. But here he was simply admitting to it. “ _But Sunny...Why?_ ”

Sunny looked down in shame. “years ago, my friends all pitched in and got me a violin. they had all noticed how much i enjoyed watching mari play the piano and this was my chance to finally play along with her. i thought it would’ve been a chance to get closer to mari but all it did was cause me physical and emotional pain. it was always about practicing to the point where I would never get to enjoy the company of my friends very often and my fingers began to ache from all the pain of practicing nonstop. we had a recital coming up soon but I wasn’t good enough. mari didn’t see things the same way though. she was always a perfectionist and I wanted it to be perfect for her sake...but i...just couldn’t do it. the stress and pain became too much to bear and the night of the recital I smashed my violin.”

Sunny became choked up having to remember the details. But he was stronger now. He couldn’t run away anymore. The truth will never get any easier but life moves on whether he liked it or not. Sunny wiped the tears from his eyes and continued.

“when Mari found out she was furious. i threw away the thing we had worked so hard to practice on just like that. but I didn’t care anymore. i just wanted things to be good again. I wanted to be happy. i...tried to walk away but mari stood in my way and I shoved her. she fell down the stairs onto the shards of my broken violin and didn’t move after that.”

Sunny tried to wipe away more tears but they wouldn’t stop falling. “I was scared and I didn’t know what to do. no one would believe that it was just an accident. then my best friend basil tried to keep me from getting in trouble by...hanging her body from that tree over there.”

He pointed towards the stump nearby. “it was all my fault. everyone i knew suffered because of the mistake i made. i couldn’t bear to face the outside world after that so I stopped leaving my house. it lasted for four years until I finally came clean to my friends just a few weeks ago. they forgave me but I wonder if a guy like me deserved it. they can always call me their friend but like dad said...i’m just a murderer!”

Sunny began to sob intensely. He fell to his knees, afraid to see Adelaide’s expression.

Even Omori looked down in shame.

Sunny felt a shaky hand on his shoulder and looked up to see the tearful Adelaide with a look of sympathy. The moonlight bathed everything around them and her olive eyes seemed to glow in the night. “You...really loved your sister didn’t you Sunny?” Sunny nodded.

Adelaide hugged the surprised Sunny tightly. “It’s ok. Everything’s gonna be ok. It was all an accident. You can’t take back the mistakes of the past but you can make up for it in the present. You...still have your friends to be with you now.”

Sunny sniffed, still surprised by Adelaide’s gentle reaction. Sunny came out here to comfort her but now she’s comforting him? What was going on with Adelaide to make her like how she was earlier?

“It’s not ok! You were about to hurt yourself!” Sunny shouted, grabbing her arm. He looked down to notice faint scared lines running down her arm. Was this a normal occurrence? 

Adelaide smiled sadly. “Would you like to know why we’re here Sunny? I met your father three years ago. Both of us had our own separate problems that caused us to go and drink heavily at the same bar on the same day. That’s fate right? Eventually we hit it off and started dating a week later. About a year and a half ago, we...decided to try for a baby. It almost went well. It was a girl. We wanted to name her Josephine. But then...she…”

Adelaide began to sob again Sunny gave her another hug, the tears soaked his shoulder.  
  
“You father became even more reserved than before and I tried to stay optimistic for the both of us. We had decided to move out soon after and one of the options was this house in Faraway Town. That’s when I learned that this was his old town. He also let it slip that he had you as a son that lived there. When I found out that you existed and that you were about to move out, I jumped at the chance and begged your father to let us move there and offer to let you stay with us. I...always wanted a child but due to the complications, I found out things would never turn out that way. Having you here was my chance to finally know what it felt like. It...was so selfish of me to do it and I knew it caused your dad a lot of anguish to even be in the same house where his daughter died but I didn’t care. I’m...I’m a horrible person! Maybe never being able to become a mother is my punishment.”

Sunny didn’t know what to say. She wanted to be a mother but was robbed of the chance, just like how he robbed Mari of all the years she had ahead of her. “it’s...ok adelaide. things will get better. i promise.”

Sunny didn’t feel like he was able to comfort her as well as he should’ve but it seemed to work. Adelaide sniffled and gave a small smile. “Thank you. I hope so.” She stood up. “where’s dad?” Sunny asked.

“He’s asleep right now. He came home exhausted.” “adelaide, what does my dad do when he’s not home?” Adelaide winked at him and smiled slightly. “I feel like that’s something he should tell you himself...when he’s ready. He may seem cold now but he’s been through a lot too. He’ll come around. Now then! How about dinner?”

“yeah.” Sunny stood up and followed her back inside.


	14. Act 3: Rivalry Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Faraway town kids have a nice wholesome picnic and The Hooligans come up with a plan of attack against the Somora Town Gang

“Ok so what do you see now?” Kel asked Sunny, holding his eyepatch in his hand.

Sunny answered, holding a hand over his good eye and looking around with the injured one. “it’s like everywhere you look is the sun except more painful, blurry, and spotty. if you want to know what it _feels_ like, your best bet would be putting multiple grains of sand in your eye and never being able to get it out.”

Kel cringed. “Geez, man! You’re a real trooper I’ll tell you what.” He handed Sunny the eyepatch and he promptly put it back on.

“GAH! GET IT OFF! I THREW IT ALREADY!” Shouted The Maverick, who was being attacked by multiple geese.

They had finally reached the day that was decided weeks ago to get everyone together and enjoy a nice day by the lake. The bread that Kel and Chris had bought had almost definitely gone bad at this point but the few salvageable loaves were added to the pile that The Maverick had snuck from his parent’s shop. 

The fresher loaves were being used as buns for the burgers that Hero had graciously decided to cook on a grill he brought from their parent’s house (of course, veggie burgers for Basil).

Kim, Vance, and Aubrey were chatting with each other and Basil was watching butterflies around a patch of budding flowers. Charlie was caught up in a game of catch with Jay and Chris using a foam football. Towards the back of the hangout spot Mincy observed everything as she made sketches in her notepad. 

All was well until Kel felt an arm grab him and pull him away. “Hey man what’s the big idea?” He shouted

Kel turned to see that the one that grabbed him was Angel. “What do you want Angel? Sunny was just about to show me this card game called Smoker!”

Angel gave him a nervous smile “Sorry Kel, but can I have a little favor? I need you to go grab Sunny for me.”

Even Kel was smart enough to see the problem with that. “Dude! He was right in front of me! Why didn’t you just get him yourself?”

A sudden realization hit Kel and he laughed. “Wait a second… Are you afraid of Sunny? Haha! Dude there’s no need to be scared!”

Angel nervously looked away, confirming Kel’s suspicion. “I-it’s not that! I just can’t put my finger on the guy. He’s mysterious and stuff y’know? Mysterious could _also_ mean danger. I mean think about it! He comes out of nowhere, stabs Aubrey and then like a week later the two are dating? Master says he has some kind of mysterious power that gives him anything he wants in exchange for the ability to speak on a regular basis.”

Kel furrowed his brow. “Mmmmmm… I don’t think so. He’s a good guy, see?”

Kel took Angel’s hand and dragged him over to Sunny “Sunny! Angel wanted to talk to you about something!”

Sunny looked up and Angel, waiting for him to say something. Angel saw that at this point he had no choice and made his proposal “ _Ahem!_ Sunny! Word around the street (or at least what Aubrey told us) is that you guys are looking to help us go against our mortal enemies! That’s great and all but,” he grabbed Sunny’s skinny arm and inspected it, “You don’t look the most well...equipped to fight compared to the others. So I figured I’d give you a couple tips because y’know…”

Angel began showing off a flashy range of karate moves until he was out of breath. When he finally recovered he looked back at the unmoving Sunny.

Despite the numerous and intense high stakes battles that Omori and co. got into in headspace, Sunny never really saw himself as much of a fighter. Of course self-defense was another thing and the week that he started going out again there was a lot of physical conflict, though he spent a majority of the battles bandaging Kel up. 

As silly as the situation was, maybe Angel had a point. He had no idea what would’ve happened if Kel hadn’t saved him the last time he was attacked. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was hold the others back.

Sunny smirked and flexed at Angel to feel his best. Angel tilted his head in confusion. “I’ll… take that as a yes. C’mon you nutjob.”

Kel watched as the two walked away, Angel frisking Sunny to check for any knives. “Hey Kel!” Chris called from across the lake. “Wanna go for a swim!?” Kel took his shirt off and began jogging in the direction of the lake “Of course! Go easy on me okay Miss ‘Human Torpedo’?”

**— —**

“Should we really be doing this right now Aubs?” Asked Kim “What if The Somora Gang attacks again and were all having a picnic?”

Aubrey chuckled “Kim weren’t you the smart one? I’m calling their bluff.”

“Their bluff? What for? Did they say something?” Kim turned to Vance to see if he understood. He shrugged at her and shook his head.

“Their reasoning for coming here yesterday without Jason was kinda fishy wasn’t it? Food poisoning or something like that? Kim, you should know better than anyone that he wouldn’t let diarrhea stop him from doing what he wants.”

Kim reluctantly remembered the source of a faint stain that was on the rug in her and Vance’s room. She had tried pretty hard to forget about that day.

“I’d say he’s making excuses. The only one that he really bothers to trust with secret info like that is Andre. I know he doesn’t talk to anyone but Jason but he seemed a little _too_ calm don’t you think? It was almost like he was watching some kind of performance go down. I dunno. Maybe it’s just a hunch.” Aubrey said.

Kim’s eyebrows shot up. The clockwork was turning in her head now. “Hold on...I think you’re onto something here…”

“Wasn’t Jason the one that called in advance to give his warning?” Vance inquired, “What if he wanted us to be on high alert so he could size us up when our guard was fully up or something y’know?”

“That may be true,” said Kim “But...we could have a double layer trap on our hands here…”

“What do you mean?” Aubrey asked.

“Well the food poisoning thing was definitely BS. It could’ve been a trick, but the two most ignorant ones Leon and Rozka are the types that don’t know what secrets are. Especially Leon. And lo and behold I can still vividly remember that nasty statement he made yesterday. If it was something else that they would’ve knowingly lied about, Leon probably would’ve blurted out something else. It’s possible that Jason lied to everyone (except Andre) about his condition so they would blab to us about it. So what is it that they’re really hiding?” Kim smirked, excited by the sudden mystery.

“What if we’re overthinking this?” asked Vance.

“We can’t really take any chances here, otherwise it’s back to getting hit with rock water balloons again.” Aubrey replied.

“Why don’t we just prepare for both contingencies?” Kim offered, “We just make two plans. One for the event that there’s some super special plan going on, and one where it’s the same as every other year?”

Aubrey motioned for Kim to continue, “I’m listening.”

Kim thought to herself for a moment “Actually nevermind. It might be a dumb idea. I was gonna say that we could find someone to try and watch the entrances of Faraway like before, but there’s not really anyone that can see far enough that letting us all know that something’s wrong would be effective.”

Aubrey could almost sense a light bulb pop up in her head. “Actually there might be one place...I’m a bit hesitant to offer it though. Sunny has an old treehouse down in the woods behind his house. If we look a bit beyond there, we can see a good view of the sidewalk. It’s far enough that it would be pretty effective to warn everyone from that distance.”

“Interesting…” Kim said, “Well that’s an option. Want about finding out the other plan though? It’s not like we have many people that could easily find out information like that. They know what we all look like.”

“Actually,” said Aubrey, “There’s still _one_ person that they don’t know about.”

**— —**

“W-what?” Basil asked, still a bit uneasy to casually be around the people that bullied him for 4 years. “A-are you sure you want _me_ to help you?”

Aubrey smiled and put a hand on the timid boy’s shoulder “Well, only if you want to. I get it if it’s too much for you.”

Basil stood up and looked Aubrey in the eye with probably the most confident look he had in years. “I-I’ll do it! I go to Somora Town all the time to drop off flower shipments for Fix-It. And I want to do it as a thank you for all of you forgiving me and Sunny.”

Aubrey found his newfound courage to be admirable. She smirked and said, “Well it seems like we have a plan now! If it gets too stressful for you, you can call it off at any time okay?”

Basil nodded just as Hero called everyone to tell them their food was ready. “Let’s go eat.” Basil said and the two began walking in the direction of the multitude of picnic blankets that were strewn across the glass. 

Aubrey could see Sunny already pecking at his burger and getting pestered by Angel and The Maverick about something. She was glad that he had been eating more in the past few weeks. The color had almost started to come back to his skin. Being holed up for four years certainly wasn’t the healthiest and considering what he had been dealing with for all those years, she couldn’t blame him for not having much of an appetite.

She turned to Basil while they walked. “Hey Basil. I was thinking about things recently. Y’know about the...incident.” Basil’s heart sank. The memories were still painful to think about but he allowed her to continue. “You love Sunny, don’t you? Is...that why you were willing to protect him for all those years?” 

Basil smiled sadly. “Take care of him for me, ok Aubrey?”

Aubrey nodded and eventually, they caught up with the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! This chapter was pretty lax after how heavy the last one we had was, but even so I hope you enjoyed it. I got a bit of feedback on discord that I should try to reformat the paragraphs a bit more to make it easier for some people to read. I agree so I tried to work on it a bit more with this chapter. Tell me what you guys thought about it and if it looks good then I might go back and try to do the same with the older chapters. (Update: It took an hour or two but all the previous chapters have been reformatted. Hope this helps for all the people that may have been turned away by the large blocks of text in the beginning.) Thanks again for all the support!


	15. Act 3: Rivalry Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We catch a little glimpse at what's going on in Sonora Town and Kel also gets hurt.

Jason stepped out into the yard of his parent’s mansion. A multitude of beautiful birds flew around on his perfectly trimmed hedges. The pristine marble fountains shot bursts of water in pretty patterns. The sun bounced off the beautiful pools at just the right angle to sparkle and as usual, the butlers were more than happy to bring him anything he needed. He hated it.

Just being near his family’s estate made him feel sick to his stomach. This lifestyle was much too restrictive for a free spirit like him. He took a step onto the sidewalk outside the gate. The band around his ankle beeped furiously until he stepped back inside. There was the kicker.

Classic case of house arrest. Those pigs were definitely overreacting. Shouldn’t they have been worrying about more important things going on around in Somora Town? Sure, he and his friends broke into the roller skating rink past midnight. And stole some of their food. And sprayed graffiti on the outside. No big deal really.

They were probably just gonna throw all that old food away anyways right? They were doing them a favor? Not to mention they put the roller skates back when they were done. Ok, maybe they could’ve gone without the graffiti part but in his defense, that was Derek’s idea, not his.

Naturally, as the respectable leader that he was, Jason alone took the fall for it and let them all escape. He ended up getting put under house arrest for it though. He got lucky. This was considered to be his final warning. One more slip up and it’s juvie for him.

He didn’t tell his gang about it though because god knows the reaction they would all have if they found out he let himself get caught and almost get locked up for it. He settled with telling them all he had the really bad squirts.

The idiots somehow believed that someone like him would stay home after having diarrhea for a month and a half. He told Andre and Miki though, mostly because he knew they were far too smart to buy the story for as long as it had been going on.

He couldn’t even really remember how long he had left before he could finally leave this embarrassing display of marble. What was with the law and saying all, their sentences in the form of days? Why couldn’t they just say “____ months” or “____ years”? But noooo it has to be “____ days of house arrest and community service”. Typical pigs. Jason walked back up to his room.

Jason was really itching to get into some action. Since he hadn’t been allowed to leave home very much he allowed the smarter ones of his group to carry out his ideas in his place for the most part.

The pathway towards Faraway Town opened back up not too long ago which led to an idea that Miki had proposed to show up at Faraway to see where their enemies stood in terms of power and organization. Meanwhile, they’d send the rookie in to sneak past them and snatch as much candy as he could from Othermart. He had yet to hear back from them, even though the plan was yesterday.

 _Blink! Blonk!_ Speak of the devil. Jason went over to his computer, waking it up from sleep mode to check the new notification he had gotten on his chat client. It was a message from Miki. Bingo.

**M1k1-ch@n > > > xxBossManJxx**

**4:14 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** sup jason

 **4:14 PM xxBossManJxx:** dude took you long enough. how’d it go?

 **4:15 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** We. Are. Stacked

 **4:15 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** I dunno how that new guy can carry so much candy dude we're gonna be set for awhile

 **4:15 PM xxBossManJxx:** nice. good plan. I knew you could do it

 **4:15 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** ~UwU~ Thank you kindly Boss!

 **4:16 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** Andre’s gonna drop your cut off in the mailbox later

 **4:16 PM xxBossManJxx:** Got it. So. How’d they look? Any new additions? Anyone look stronger? Weaker? Gimme the deets.

 **4:18 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** Same old gang. They were real cocky y’know. Like what made their heads so big?

 **4:18 PM xxBossManJxx:** Lol they don’t know what’s gonna hit them. We’re gonna beat them into submission this time k? Good luck out there. Keep giving me good info

 **4:21 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** Actually wait.

 **4:21 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** Was a bit hesitant to share this but I decided what the hell right?

 **4:21 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** You asked if there were any new additions. I wouldn’t exactly say this was a new addition because I’m not too sure. But it is kinda weird.

 **4:22 PM M1k1i-ch@n:** I saw a couple strange POI’s yesterday

**— —**

Kel dribbled the ball furiously down towards the hoop. A quick layup would guarantee their victory. “Kel! Kel! Over here!” Jay called over by the hoop. 

The path toward the hoop was clear and all the opponents were behind him. There wasn’t much of a need to worry. He could do this all himself right? But then again, if he somehow screwed it up, his friends would get pretty pissed at him. As easy as this shot was, Kel felt an intense pressure.

Eventually he decided to pass it to Jay just as an opponent jumped from behind him to smack the ball out of his hands. Thank god for split-second decisions. 

Kel saw a glint in Jay’s eyes as he ran towards the hoop. Was he planning on... **oh hell yeah!**

Kel picked up the pace until he finally reached the hoop. Jay shot the ball in his direction and Kel caught it in mid air, sinking the ball into the hoop with an intense dunk.

“HA HA! Nice one Kel!” Jay shouted, giving him a strong-armed handshake.

“Dude, I didn’t think you’d try out the alley-oop so soon haha! You’re a pretty quick learner.” Kel said with a grin

“I only learn from the best.” Jay said returning his smile

They shook hands with Kel’s two other friends before departing from the court.

“I HAVE FOUND YOU ONCE AGAIN MY NEMESIS!” A voice shouted from behind Kel

 _Here we go again_ Kel thought. “What do you want Mikhael?” Kel asked out of breath.

“That’s The Maverick to you!” He retorted. The Maverick was sporting a silver wig this time as opposed to his usual blonde one but he was still as annoying as usual. “You know why I’m here!”

“With the amount of ‘rematches’ you ask for, it’s basically multiple choice at this point.” Said Kel.

“You. Me. Foot race now! I’ve been training my stamina so it won’t be as last time!” The Maverick struck a pose.

Jay turned to Kel “How often do you have to deal with this kind of stuff?”

Kel sighed “Too many to count. Fine. We’ll make this quick okay? You won't go away otherwise.”

The two boys took their positions to start running as Jay counted them off. “3, 2, 1, GO!” 

Kel kicked off especially hard off the ground, launching forward. But when he landed, his ankle twisted “Ow! Dammit!” He said, falling on his face as The Maverick ran past.

Not a big deal. It probably wasn't that bad. He stood up and finished the race, despite the pain still beating The Maverick by a lot. 

“Tch! It seems my spell was ineffective this time my nemesis. I, The Maverick will get stronger though you hear!” The Maverick called out running away, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Kel sat down on the grass as Jay ran over to him “Dude, are you okay? You ate dirt pretty hard there at the beginning. Kinda sad that you still managed to win too!” He laughed as Kel rubbed his ankle.

“Yeah I’m fine! Just twisted my ankle a bit! Happens all the time don’t worry,” Kel grinned up at him “My brother Hero will know what to do! He’s smart.”

**— —**

Hero poked at Kel’s slightly swollen ankle. No reaction. He poked lower. Kel winced at the touch. 

“Hmm,” Hero said “Judging from this swelling, the way you said the ankle twisted, and your reaction to me touching it like that, we’re looking at a sprain I’d say. Don’t worry, it’s pretty minor though.”

Kel sighed, but then showed his signature grin once again “See Jay? Nothing to worry about! Hero’s just gonna slap a bandaid on it and it’s good as new!”

Hero put his head in his hands and looked back up at Kel. “That’s...not how those work Kel. You’re just gonna have to stay off of it for a week or so, otherwise it’ll get worse.”

“A week!?” Kel broke into a sweat.

“Yeah a week give or take. You’ve always been a fast healer so it might be even sooner for you. Just as long as you don’t use the foot too much. I’m gonna say this again Kel because I know how you are at following directions. _The less you walk on it, the faster it heals._ Okay?” Hero said standing up.

“Man… sorry Jay. Looks like no basketball practice for the rest of the week.” Kel said sadly.

“N-no worries bro. I can just work with what you've already taught me.” Jay replied. “Just get better soon. We’re both gonna have to be in tip top shape if we’re gonna both make the varsity team this year!”

Jay left the brothers to themselves as Kel leaned back on the sofa. This sucked. He was stuck not being able to do anything for a whole week. 

What if the Somora Town gang comes back soon? Or what if some kind of college sports scout comes to town or something? He’d miss it all. Kel wondered if Hero had any crutches lying around somewhere.

Kel sat up and prepared to walk up to their room to check but Hero stopped him “Geez man! I _just_ said to not walk on it! Tell me what you need. Your big bro’s here to get it for you.” Right.

“Do you have any crutches or something? Or do I just have to live on the sofa for now?” 

Hero stroked his chin in thought “Yeah you’re right. I’ll go look for some. I’ll also get you some ice ok?”

Hero walked off in search of the crutches. Hero was such a good brother. He deserved to be his parents favorite with how smart and cool he was. 

When Kel had walked in with his sprained ankle, his parents couldn’t even hide their lack of surprise that Kel had hurt himself once again. It was just expected for him to screw up.

He remembered when Mari had died and Hero had lashed out at him that one time, his parents were right there for him. It made sense. It was Hero’s girlfriend after all. 

But Mari was Kel’s friend too and no one cared to ask how _he_ was. He was just expected to bounce back fast because he was Kel. Just the lovable easygoing idiot Kel. Kel knew his place in the dynamic of all his friends but it still stung a bit.

Eventually, Hero came back with some old wooden crutches “Sorry it took so long. I couldn’t find the regular crutches but I don’t think you’d mind using these old ones right?” Hero smiled at him “Now then, time for the ice!”

Kel smiled a bit. Even if people only saw him as just a lovable idiot, at least he was a cool little brother to Hero. The cool little brother that’ll definitely be taller than him next year.

“Thanks Hero.” Kel said as Hero scooped ice from the freezer.

Hero turned and looked at him and winked. “Thanks for what? Just doing what any cool big bro would do for his awesome little bro!”

Kel got up and walked towards him “H-Hey! I told you like three times not to walk!” Hero shouted. 

Kel gave Hero a hug. “Yep. And now I’m giving you a hug bro!”

Hero coughed “H- _cough_ You’re hugging me kinda tight Kel.”

Kel hugged tighter. “Ah! Are you trying to kill me!?” Hero asked, chuckling.

Kel smiled and finally let go. “Hero you’re the best brother a guy could ask for! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Hero blushed and rubbed a hand over his hair “T-thanks haha. Now sit back down so I can give you your ice.”

The boys spent the next few hours laughing and chatting as Hero made Kel a nice lunch.


	16. Act 3: Rivalry Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adelaide discovers Sunny’s Omori comic and The Somora Town Gang celebrates their recent victory over the Hooligans

A peaceful morning. Everything was okay. Sunny was prepared to sit up in his bed but then realized he couldn’t move. Was it the exhaustion from all on Angel’s training? Probably not. 

He couldn’t feel anything and he still couldn’t move. Suddenly a silhouette appeared in the corner of his eye. He couldn’t turn to see who it was but the voice was unmistakable. _“Sunny. Do you miss me?”_ Mari. _“I’ve missed you little brother. I miss you much. I want to see you right now…”_

Sunny began to cry to himself. He knew it wasn’t real but he couldn’t help but get choked up at the sound of the voice. _“Sunny? Do you want to see me? There’s still a way… there’s plenty of trees out back Sunny… join me Sunny. We can be together again… Do it.”_

The voice became more and more agitated. _“I said do it. Sunny. Do it now. DO IT! DON’T YOU MISS ME SUNNY? COME ON, SUNNY! DON’T YOU WANT TO MAKE AMENDS? JOIN ME SUNNY! SUNNY! SUNNY!”_

The voice faded away as Sunny was shaken awake from his sleep. “Sunny? You alright?” Sunny sat up from his desk, relieved that the nightmare was over and he could move again. He thought that he fell asleep in his bed but maybe Angel’s training really _did_ exhaust him yesterday to the point where he fell asleep while writing.

Adelaide looked down at him with a hand in his shoulder. “Had a rough night? I came up to wake you up and you were sleeping here and muttering stuff in your sleep.” 

She looked closer at what Sunny had been working on. “What‘s that there?” 

Sunny looked down at the comic his head was resting on. Omori and friends were currently locked in a battle with Space Boyfriend in his comic. A puddle of drool had formed on the bottom of the page. Looks like Sunny would have to remake that one.

Adelaide’s face lit up. “Did you make this Sunny? Aw it’s so cute! That one looks a bit like you.”

“um...yeah.” Sunny said drowsily. 

He had been relatively hesitant to show anyone his comic because he wasn’t exactly sure what he even wanted to do with it. Telling others that these were based on actual dreams of his would probably get a reaction out of most people for sure, but he wasn’t sure if publicizing it was what he wanted to do yet. 

The comic was more of a way to get the creative frustration of his out. In other words, it was just for him. Almost like a dream diary of sorts. But now it had been found.

After getting Sunny’s reluctant consent, Adelaide picked up the booklet and flipped through it all, taking in the fruits of Sunny’s labor.

After she was done she put it back down and grinned at him. “I’ll tell you Sunny, you have talent, here. How come you’ve never told anyone about this?”

“well, i was making it for myself mostly. I don’t know if it’s something i’d...share.” Sunny croaked.

Adelaide realizing Sunny’s caginess about the comic broke into a sweat. “Oh no! D-did I invade your privacy? I’m _so_ sorry! Um I-I’ll just lea-“ 

“it’s fine,” Sunny interrupted. “i don’t mind if you looked. i might even consider showing my friends too when i’m done...maybe.”

Normally, Sunny probably would’ve been off put by Adelaide’s intrusion but after bonding with her that night, he felt that he could truly see her true colors. Sunny wanted her to be happy just like everyone else. Now, she was more than just his father’s significant other. She was his friend.

Adelaide hugged him and before she left his room, she said “Well whatever choice you decide to make with your story, I’ll support it. If you ever need help...putting it out there into the world, feel free to ask me! I do work in that industry you know?”

He nodded and after she left Sunny stood up and stretched. That nightmare was horrifying. After all this time, he still hadn’t gotten used to them and he didn’t think he ever would. But there’s one lesson Omori had taught him. Don’t succumb. Never succumb. Sunny would stay strong for those he loved. It was all he could do.

Sunny looked back at his comic. Maybe he would want to show it to the world one day. But he would have to get strong enough to do so. He didn’t worry. As long as he had his friends, he felt that he could do anything again. 

Sunny put on his eyepatch and left his room to get the day started.

**— —**

Andre leaned back on the park bench he was sitting on. Somora Town was covered in a thick overcast and the wind was blowing pretty hard, making it pretty clear that it could start pouring rain at any moment, but he didn’t really mind. Some people might call weather like this bad but Andre liked it like this. It calmed him, as if the world itself became a flowing ocean.

The peace was broken as he heard voices approaching. “And then you pour the water in the cup of water and it makes it grow, got it!? So water is a plant!!” Leon said, leaping around happily, as he and Erickson made their way to the plaza, where Victor and Andre were already waiting.

“Dude, what the hell are you even talking about?” Erickson asked, picking his nose and flicking it towards Victor, who squealed and jumped away, determined to not come into contact with the hair-riddled booger.

Rozka showed up next, with Joel and Miki riding in her back like she was a form of transportation. Rozka didn’t even seem to notice as she hurried toward the others. “Late? Late?” She asked nervously as Joel and Miki both simultaneously hopped off of her shoulders.

Andre shook his head and silently pointed behind them, where Derek and the Rookie were both hurrying towards the group.

“Took ya guys long enough.” Snickered Miki.

“Don’t say that like we weren’t _just_ following right behind you!” Derek said, out of breath “No fair dudes. You can’t just win the race by telling Rozka she’s late then jumping on her!”

Miki shrugged, smugly. “Not like you made any rules, idiot.”

“Shut up! I have the seniority here! I don’t see _you_ being in the top 3 in our gang!” Derek shouted, getting in her face.

“Yeah, yeah. And whose plan was it that Jason allowed us to carry out? Y’know, the one that worked!” Miki said, sticking her tongue at him.

Andre clapped his hands twice, which was his way of wordlessly telling everyone to shut up. The group fell silent.

Derek cleared his throat “Ah yes. Since Jason still has the squirts, I have to be the one to speak for Andre this time. Anyways. We’re here to celebrate our recent victory against the Faraway Town Gang, thanks to the help of the new guy. Give him a pat on the back.”

The delinquents all began to cheer as The Rookie stepped forward holding a grocery bag from Othermart filled with the candy that he snatched from the candy shop in Faraway. He stuck his hand in the bag and grabbed a handful, tossing it in the air to make it rain. 

The delinquents jumped around to catch the raining candy, but the wind blew some of it away. Maybe he shouldn’t have done that. Leon and Erickson ran after the stray candy until every last one was off the ground.

Derek facepalmed. “O-okay...you didn’t have to do all that, but the point still stands. You did a good job out there, rookie.”

“Thanks,” the rookie replied. “I was only following orders though. It _was_ pretty tough getting past the obnoxious lady that ran the place though.”

Rozka had already begun munching on some of the candy they had all gotten. “Party? Do we party now?”

Derek tried to put his hand on Rozka’ shoulder, but couldn’t due to her sheer height over him, so he settled on just giving her a pat on the back. “Easy, now. Of course we’re gonna party you human gorilla. How about the arcade? Let’s do a vote. Everyone that wants to go to the arcade raise your hand.”

Everyone raised their hands as expected “U-um...” Started Victor 

“WHAT? SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!” Erickson shouted at him.

“I-I was just gonna say...don’t we need money for the arcade? Do we have any money?” Victor stammered out.

Everyone fished around in their pockets. Their total amount of money ended up at about $18, which certainly wasn’t enough for _all_ of them to play games.

“Hmm. Damn, he’s got a point.” Derek said

Suddenly, a passerby caught Miki’s eye walking on the sidewalk nearby. Miki glanced around at the plaza, then nudged Joel, who immediately got the plan.

The two started a ways back from the poor victim and then Joel broke into a full sprint, leaping in the air and face planting right in front of the passerby.

“Are you ok sir?” He asked.

“Oooowwwww… _sniff sniff_ it...it hurts!” Tears began to form in Joel’s eyes

The man tried his best to comfort Joel and attempted to see where he was hurt “Do you need me to call an ambulance?”

Miki snuck up behind the man and stealthily stuck a hand in his pocket, pulling out his wallet. She grabbed a handful of bills from it before gently placing the wallet back into the man’s pocket.

“ _sniff sniff_ I-I think I’ll be fine Mr. My house is close by. I’ll just go back home and...slap an ice pack on it.” Joel said

With a concerned expression on his face, the man walked off, oblivious of the fact that he was the true victim.

Miki looked at the money she had stolen.

“Hmm,” Derek said, “Well, now that we have this, we have enough to all play at least 3 games… ah well! That’s more than we had before so we’ll work with it!”

The gang all stood up and made their way towards the arcade.


End file.
